JPH03250211A - Terminal controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve using efficiency and operability of a terminal equipment by outputting information while selecting the terminal equipment on standby out of terminal equipments belonging to a designated group. CONSTITUTION:Laser beam printers 72 and 73 are divided into a group (b). When the user of a computer 42 outputs the information to the laser beam printers, by designating the group (b) as the output destination of the informa tion, a controller 2 of a terminal controller 1 automatically selects any one of the printers 72 and 73 on standby out of the printers. Therefore, while the printer 72 outputs the information of a computer 41, it is not necessary to wait for outputting of the information of the computer 42 until the information output of the computer 41 at the printer 72 is finished regardless of the standby state of the printer 73. Thus, the using efficiency and operability of the printers can be improved.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a terminal control device in which a plurality of central processing units share a plurality of terminal devices, and is particularly suitable for a terminal side W when the terminal device is a printer. between the devices.

[Conventional technology]

A terminal control device in which a computer such as a personal computer or a word processor is used as a central processing unit and a printer is used as a terminal device, and multiple printers are shared by multiple computers, is conventionally described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1987-752. A switching controller is provided for controlling connections between a computer interface for each computer, a printer interface for each printer, and any computer interface and any printer interface; Information from any computer can be transferred to any printer by switching the connection bus between any computer interface and any printer interface in response to a command entered into the controller requesting a connection to a specified printer. It was possible to output to.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The above-mentioned conventional technology does not consider the case where a plurality of terminal devices of the same type are connected to the terminal control IL device.

Therefore, for example, if a printer is used as a terminal device, printers of the same type will be specified by different commands.

Therefore, when a printer (hereinafter referred to as the first printer) specified by a certain computer (hereinafter referred to as the first computer) is outputting information from another computer (hereinafter referred to as the second computer), the first printer Even if a printer of the same type as the printer (hereinafter referred to as a second printer) is in a standby state, the output of information from the first computer ends at the designated first printer. However, there is a problem in that it is necessary to wait until the first printer returns to the standby state. Furthermore, in order to output the information to the second printer in the standby state, the first computer must specify the second printer using the command, which places a burden on the computer. There is also.

An object of the present invention is to automatically select a terminal device in a standby state among the terminal devices of the same type when outputting information from the central processing unit to the terminal device when terminal devices of the same type are connected.
An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal control device that outputs the information to the terminal device.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, one or more terminal devices are classified as one group into a plurality of groups; a setting means for setting a group name for each group divided by the means; The classification includes a rewritable nonvolatile storage means such as a battery-backed RAM or EEPROM that stores each group divided by the means and the group name set by the setting means, and an output destination of the information by the group name. A designation means is provided, and a terminal device in a standby state is selected from among terminal devices belonging to a group designated by the designation means and the information is outputted.

[Effect]

The user uses the classification means to classify the terminal devices connected to the terminal control device into a plurality of groups each consisting of one or more terminal devices, and sets a group name for each group using the setting means.

When outputting information from the central processing unit to a terminal device, the user specifies the output destination of the information using the group name. Thereafter, when information is output from the central processing unit, the terminal control device puts into a standby state among the terminal devices belonging to the group specified by the specifying means according to the group name stored in the storage means. Select a certain terminal device and output the information. Therefore, similar terminal devices,
For example, by dividing the first terminal device and the second terminal device into the same group, for example, when information is being output to the terminal device ``11'', the second terminal device a is in a standby state. However, there is no need to wait for the first terminal device to finish outputting the information and return the first terminal device to a standby state.

Further, each group divided by means and the group name set by the setting means are recorded in the non-volatile storage means capable of changing the IF, so that the power can be turned OFF.
The terminal device is not erased even if the power is turned on, and there is no need to divide the terminal device into each group by means of the classification means and set a group name for each group by the setting means each time the power is turned on.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking as an example a case where the terminal device is a printer and three printers are shared by four computers.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a terminal control device according to the present invention. In the same figure, 1 is a terminal control device, 2 is a C
Controller composed of PU, ROM, ROM, etc., 31
is an interface with the computer 41, 32 is an interface with the computer 42, and 33 is an interface with the computer 4.
3 is an interface with the computer 44; 5 is a buffer memory that temporarily stores information for each printer; a buffer 51 that temporarily stores information for the printer 71; a buffer that temporarily stores information for the printer 72; 52, and a buffer 53 for temporarily storing information to be sent to the printer 73. 61 is an interface with the printer 71, 62 is an interface with the printer 72, 63 is an interface with the printer 73, 8 is a section for classifying the printers 71 to 73, setting a group name, and specifying a group to which each computer's information is output. 9 is a battery-backed RAM or EEPROM for storing each group divided by the operation unit 8 and the set group name.
10 is a display panel.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a combined unit of the operation section 8 and the display panel 10.

In the figure, 81 is a designation switch for specifying a group to output information about the computer 41, 82 is a designation switch for specifying a group to output information for the computer 42, and 83 is a designation switch for specifying a group to output information for the computer 43. 84 is a designation switch for specifying a group for outputting information about the computer 44; 85 is a setting switch for classifying the printers 71 to 73 and setting a group name; 86 is a designation switch for classifying the printers 71 to 73; and a selection switch for selecting the characters used to set the group name.

First, among the printers 71 to 73 connected to the terminal control device 11, the printer 71, which is a line printer, for example, is grouped as group a, and the group name is "LP", and the printers 72 and 73, which are laser beam printers, for example, are grouped as group b. The case of setting the group name "LBP" will be explained using a display example of the display panel 10 in FIG. 3.

When the setting switch 85 is turned 0N10FF once (hereinafter simply referred to as "ON"), the controller 2 switches the display panel 1
0, a display 10a indicating that the printers 71 are divided into one group is displayed. When the setting switch 85 is turned on here, the controller 2 divides the printers 71 into one group, stores them in the memory 9 as group a, and displays the symbol "book" as shown in the display 10b in order to set the group name. do. Now turn the selection switch 86 to
When N, the controller 2 displays the character “A” as shown in display 10c.
” is displayed. When the selection switch 86 is further set to ONL, the controller 2 displays the letter “L” as shown in the display 10d.
Display. When the setting switch 86 is turned on here, the controller 2 sets the letter "L" as the first character of the group name and displays the symbol "book" as the second character, as shown in the display 10e. Thereafter, in the same manner, the selection switch 86 displays the letter "P" as shown in the display 10f, and the setting switch 86
Turn on 5. Now that "LP" has been set as the group name, when the setting switch 85 is turned on, the controller 2 will set "LP" as the group name of group a.
" is stored in the memory 9, and in order to set the next group, a display 10g showing that the printers 72 are divided into one group is displayed. When the selection switch 86 is turned on, the controller 2 Display 10h shows that the printers 72 and 73 are to be divided into one group. When the setting switch 85 is turned on here, the controller 2 divides the printers 72 and 73 into one group and sets them as group b. - Store it in the memory 9. Thereafter, in the same manner as described above, "LBP" is stored in the memory 9 as the group name of group b, and the division of the printers 71 to 73 into groups and the setting of the group name are completed. .

Next, a case will be described in which information from the computer 41 is output to group b when all printers 71 to 73 are in a standby state.

When the designation switch 81 is turned on, the controller 2 displays the group name "LP" of the group currently set as the output destination of the information of the computer 41, for example, group a, as shown in display 10i in FIG. Further, when the designation switch 81 is turned on, the controller 2 displays the group name "LBP" of the group b as shown in the display 10j, and sets the group b as the output destination of the information from the computer 41. Thereafter, when information is output from the computer 41, the controller 2 inputs the information via the computer interface 31 and selects the designated switch 81.
For example, printer 7 of group b specified by
2 is in a standby state, and since it is in a standby state in this case, the information is sequentially temporarily stored in the buffer 52 and the information is written from the buffer 52. They are read out in sequence and output to the printer 72 via the printer interface 62.

Next, while the information of the computer 41 is being outputted to the printer 72 of group b as described above, the computer 41
A case will be explained in which the information of No. 2 is output to group b.

In the same manner as described above, the designation switch 82 designates group b as the output destination of the information from the computer 42. Thereafter, when information is output from the computer 42, the controller 2 inputs incorrect information via the computer interface 32, and in the same manner as described above, the printer 72 first enters the waiting 41I among the group b designated by the designation switch 82. In this case, it is not in a standby state, so it is checked whether the printers 73 classified into the same group b are in a standby state, and since in this case they are in a standby state, the incorrect information is sequentially temporarily stored in the buffer 53. Erroneous information is read out from the buffer 53 in the order in which it was stored and output to the printer 73 via the printer interface 63.

According to this embodiment, since the printers 72 and 73, which are laser beam printers, are divided into group b, when the user of the computer 42 outputs information to the laser beam printer, the output destination of the information is group b. By specifying b, the controller 2 of the terminal control device 1 automatically selects Blink, which is in a standby state, from among the printers 72 and 73. Therefore, in this embodiment, when the printer 72 is outputting the information of the computer 41, even though the printer 73 is in a standby state, the information of the computer 42 is There is no need to wait for the output of the printer, which improves the usage efficiency of the printer and improves the operability.

Furthermore, since the controller 2 of the terminal control device 1 automatically selects the printer 73 in the standby state, there is also the effect that no burden is placed on the computer 42.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the output destination of information is not the printer number, but "LP" (abbreviation for Line Printer),
LBP” (Laser BeamPr 1nter
Since it is possible to select a group name with a meaning such as (abbreviation), it is possible to prevent errors in specifying the output destination of information and improve operability.

Next, by applying this embodiment, printer 71 to blink 7
A case will be described in which information from the computer 43 is simultaneously output to both the printers 72 and 71 of group b when all printers 72 and 71 of group b are in a standby state.

First, in the same manner as described above, the designation switch 83 is turned on to designate the output destination of the information. At this time, the controller 2 displays the group LP of group a and the number of simultaneous outputs "outputl" on the display panel IO as the output destination of the information from the computer 43, for example, as shown in display 10 in FIG. When the switch 83 is turned on, the controller 2 displays the group name "LBP" of group b as shown in the display lO.
” and the number of simultaneous outputs “outputl” are displayed.

Furthermore, when the designated switch 83 is turned on, the controller 2
is the group name of group b “LBP” as shown in the display 10m.
” and the simultaneous output number “output2” are displayed.
Group b is used as the output destination of the information of the computer 43,
Specify 2 as the number of simultaneous outputs.

Thereafter, when information is output from the computer 43, the controller 2 inputs the information via the computer interface 33 and determines whether both the printers 72 and 73 of group b specified by the designation switch 83 are in a standby state. In this case, since both are in the standby state, the information is sequentially transferred to the buffer 52 and the buffer 53.
At the same time, the erroneous information is read out from the buffers 52 and 53 in the order of storage, and outputted to the printer 72 via the printer interface 62 and to the printer 73 via the printer interface 63.

According to this embodiment, multiple printers in the same group,
Computer 43 for printer 72 and printer 73
information can be output at the same time, which has the effect of improving efficiency when outputting multiple copies of the same information.

In addition, since information from the computer 43 is temporarily stored in both the buffer 52 and the buffer 530, if an error such as paper out occurs in the printer 72 during simultaneous output, the information from the printer 73 continues to be output and the information is transferred to the printer 72. Only the information output of the printer 72 is temporarily stopped, and when the error in the printer 72 is cleared, the information output can be restarted from the point where it was temporarily stopped, and there is an effect that there is no need to perform an unnecessary pause in the printer 73.

In the above embodiments, the printers 71 to 73 are classified using the operation unit 8 and the display panel 10, but the classification may also be performed using commands from the computer 41 input via the computer interface 31, for example. Similarly, for example, the group to which the information of the computer 41 is output and the number of simultaneous outputs may be specified by a command added to the beginning of the information, as shown in FIG.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the terminal a connected to the terminal side w device, 1
The terminal control device automatically selects a terminal device in a standby state among the terminal devices belonging to the group designated as the information output destination of the central processing unit. Since the above-mentioned information can be output, by dividing the same type of terminal devices, for example, a first terminal device and a second terminal device into the same group, for example, information of the first central processing unit can be outputted from the first central processing unit. When attempting to output to the terminal device of $1, if the terminal device of $1 is outputting the information of the second central processing unit, the above 112
Although the first terminal device is in a standby state, the first terminal device
There is no need to wait for the second central processing unit to finish outputting the information in the terminal device and the first terminal device returns to the standby state, which improves the usage efficiency of the terminal device and improves operability. It has the effect of being able to improve.

Furthermore, since the terminal control device automatically selects the terminal device in the standby state as described above, there is an advantage that no burden is placed on the central processing unit.

Furthermore, since a group name can be set for each group and the output destination of information from the central processing unit can be specified by the group name, errors in specifying the output destination of the information can be prevented and operability can be improved. You can also do it.

In addition, if each group divided by means and the group name set by the setting means are stored in a rewritable non-volatile storage means, the power can be turned off.
When the power is turned on without being erased even if F is turned on, the above-mentioned classification means divides the terminal device into each group, and the effect is that there is no need to set a group name for each group using the setting means. be.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the terminal side Wllldl of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view showing an example of the operation unit 8 and display panel 10 in FIG. 1, and FIGS. The figure is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of the display panel 10, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a case where the output destination and the number of simultaneous outputs of the information are added to the beginning of the information to be output to the terminal device. . 1...Terminal control V & position, 2...Controller, 31
~34...Computer interface, 5...Buffer memory, 61-63...Printer interface, 8...Operation unit, 9...Memory, 10...Display panel. No.! Figure diagram

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Information input means for inputting information from a central processing unit;
In a terminal control device having an information output means for outputting the information to a terminal device, one or more terminal devices are
As a group, a dividing means divides the group into a plurality of groups, a setting means sets a group name for each group divided by the dividing means, and stores each group divided by the dividing means and the group name set by the setting means. and a specifying means for specifying an output destination of the information based on the group name, and selecting a terminal device in a standby state from among the terminal devices belonging to the group specified by the specifying means to output the information. A terminal control device characterized in that it outputs. 2. A terminal control device according to claim 1, characterized in that a rewritable nonvolatile storage device is used as the storage device.