JPH0628130A - Printing controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily find an error occurrence page by selecting economical printing output if a fault occurs during image processing when a printer provided with both a color and a monochromatic print is used. CONSTITUTION:The printer 3 can output both the color and monochromatic prints and if an error detection part 17 detects an error during the image data processing by a print image generation part 16, one of plural print output modes which are combinations of the printing process of the page where the error occurs and printing processings of other pages and also set in advance is selected. Consequently, the conversion and printing processing of the print image data are quitted according to the selected print output mode. For example, if the error occurs during the color image processing, a print output mode wherein the data of only the page where the error occurs are converted into monochromatic image data and other pages are printed in colors is selected, so that only the page where the error occurs is outputted as a monochromatic print.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print control device for controlling print output to a printer capable of printing both color and monochrome when a failure occurs during image processing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a print control device for controlling output processing of a printer capable of printing both color and monochrome, even if a failure occurs during image processing of input print data, color output is designated. If it is, it is printed in color, and if it is designated to output in a single color, it is printed out in a single color as it is. However, the output cost of the color print is much higher than that of the single color print, and there is a problem that it is impossible to economically operate the printer to output an image in which a failure has occurred. on the other hand,
When a failure occurs during image processing, if the output is stopped, there is a problem that it is impossible to know where the failure occurred.

By the way, as a technique relating to the print control technique, there is, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-236745, in which there is a technique for outputting color data in color and outputting monochrome data in monochrome. It has been described. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-248649 describes a technique of output processing of color printing and monochrome printing in a color printer. However, even if an error occurs during image processing, if the data is in color, it will be output in color. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-255541 describes a technique of binarizing grayscale image data and printing out the binarized data in a format specific to the printer. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-193369 discloses a technique in which when a certain color cannot be printed due to a failure on the printer side, it is replaced with another printable color and printed out. In this technique, the print control device side controls to avoid a fault occurring on the printer side, and the influence of the fault is minimized. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-59571 discloses a technique of recording an error in input information when it is detected and recording it at a specific place on a printed paper to inform the user.

[0004]

As described above, in the conventional print control apparatus for controlling the output processing of a printer capable of printing both color and monochrome, there is a problem during image processing of input print data. Even if it occurs, it is printed in color if it is a color output specification and as it is in a single color if it is a single color output specification, so color print output, which is extremely expensive, was not economically operated. There was a problem. Also,
When a failure occurs during image processing, if the output is stopped, there is a problem that it is impossible to know where the failure occurred.

In view of the above, the present invention eliminates such problems, and when a printer capable of printing both color and monochrome is used, an economical print output is selected when a failure occurs during image processing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a print output device capable of performing the above and easily finding an error occurrence location.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first aspect of the present invention is to provide a printing means capable of printing out both color and monochrome, image data generating means for generating print image data from input data, the input data and the image. Storage means for storing data, discrimination means for discriminating whether the input data is color or monochromatic, error detection means for detecting an error occurring at the stage of creating print image data, and the error detection means When an error is detected by, the control means performs a predetermined control only when the input data is color.

A second invention is characterized in that, in the first invention, when an error is detected by the error detecting means, all pages are regenerated into monochromatic print image data.

A third aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, when an error is detected from the error detection main stage, only the page in which the error has occurred is regenerated into single-color print image data. .

A fourth aspect of the invention is characterized in that, in the first aspect, when an error is detected by the error detecting means, generation of print image data of a page in which the error has occurred is prohibited.

A fifth invention is characterized in that, in the first to fourth inventions, when an error is detected by the error detecting means, information on the error is output to a display device or a printing means. .

[0011]

According to the present invention, in the case where print image data is printed out by a printer capable of printing both color and monochrome, when a failure occurs during the process of creating print image data from the input print data, According to the print output mode selected from the plurality of set print output modes, when the print image data is converted, the conversion process is performed, and the print output control for the printer is performed based on the conversion process result. Here, the print output mode is a combination of print output processing in print output units such as pages, and it is possible to easily know that an error has occurred in print output units by the print output result itself in the print output mode. . Further, detailed error information is output to the display device or the printing means.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a print control apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, print data input from an external device 2 such as a personal computer or a workstation is input to an input interface unit 11 of the print control device 1 via a data bus or a network. The print data input to the input interface unit 11 is stored in the storage device 14 by the control unit 12. After that, the print image creation unit 16 reads the print data from the storage device 14 according to a command from the control unit 12, and the color / single color determination unit 18
The print data determined to be color data or monochrome data is converted into print image data page by page with reference to the font memory 15. Then, this converted print image data is processed by the error detection unit 17
The result of detection of the error is also stored in the storage device 14. Then, under the print output control by the control unit 12,
The printer 3 via the printer interface unit 13.
Is printed out. Here, the printer 3 is a printer capable of both color printing and monochrome printing. Further, the display unit 4 and the keyboard 5 are connected to the control unit 12, and various print output modes can be set by key input from the keyboard 5 based on the display of the display unit 4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the document image data created by the print image creating unit 16. In FIG. 2, the document image data is composed of attribute data and print image data, and this document image data is stored in the storage device 14. The attribute data includes a document name, creator, creation date, number of pages, error flag 21 and the like. The print image data is composed of a pair of a status number indicating an error occurrence state and a processing status for each page and image data of the page. When the number of pages is N, N pairs of data pairs are printed. Composed of. For example, in the case of page 1, the status number 22 of page 1 and the image data 23 of page 1 form a pair. Here, the correspondence between the status number and its contents is as follows. That is, status number S1: normal termination with single color status number S2: error occurred with single color status number S3: normal termination with color status number S4: error occurred with color status number S5: color converted to single color Status number with such contents S1 to S5 are added as a pair to the image data created for each page.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing print output mode numbers and their modes. In FIG. 3, there are 11 print output modes that can be selected, seven print output modes 1 to 7 can be selected for color data, and print output mode numbers 8 to 8 can be selected for single color data. 11 modes can be selected. First, the print output mode for color data will be described. Print output mode number 1
Is a mode for printing in color regardless of whether an error has occurred. The print output mode 2 is a mode in which the print output process is stopped. The print output mode 3 is a mode in which the pages other than the page in which the error has occurred are printed in color. The print output mode 4 is a mode in which a page in which an error has occurred is converted into a single color to be a pudding, and the other pages are printed in color. The print output mode 5 is a mode in which all pages are converted into a single color and printed. The print output mode 6 is a mode in which only the page in which an error has occurred is printed in color and the other pages are not printed. In print output mode 7, only the page in which an error has occurred is converted into a single color and printed.
Other pages are in a mode in which they are not printed. next,
The print output mode for single color data will be described. The print output mode 8 is a mode for printing in single color regardless of whether or not an error has occurred. The print output mode 9 is a mode in which the print output processing is stopped. The print output mode 10 is a mode in which the pages other than the page in which the error has occurred are printed in a single color. The print output mode 11 is a mode in which only a page in which an error has occurred is printed in a single color and other pages are not printed.

Next, the operation of the print control device will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of print image data creation processing. In FIG. 4, first, when print data is input from the external device 2 to the input interface unit 11 (step 401), the control unit 12 causes the storage device 14 to operate.
The print data is stored in (step 402). afterwards,
In response to a command from the control unit 12, the print image creation unit 16
The print data is read from the storage device 14 (step 40).
3). Then, the print data of one page is taken out (step 404). Hereinafter, the following processing is performed in page units.

First, the print image creating section 16 causes the color / single color determining section 18 to determine whether the print data is color data or single color data. By this judgment (step 40
5) If the print data is not color data, the print image creation unit 16 creates single color image data (step 421). When an error or the like occurs during the image creation process and the error detection unit 17 detects this error (step 422), the error flag is set to "1" and "S2" is added to the created image data as a status number. (Step 424). If no error is detected in step 422, "S1" is set as the status number in the created image data.
Is added (step 425). And step 43
The process shifts to 1 and is repeated until the image data creation process for all pages is completed.

On the other hand, if the print data is color data in step 405, the print image creating section 16 creates color image data for the print data of this page (step 406). Then, when an error or the like occurs during the image forming process and the error detecting unit 17 detects this error (step 407), the error flag is set to "1" (step 408). afterwards,
It is judged whether or not the print output modes 4, 5, and 7 for converting the color into the single color are set (step 409). If not set, "S4" is added as the status number to the created image data. (Step 409),
If it is set, it is converted into monochromatic image data (step 412) and "S5" is added as the status number (step 413). On the other hand, if no error is detected in step 407, "S3" is added as the status number (step 411). Then, the process proceeds to step 431 and is repeated until the image data creating process for all pages is completed.

When the image data of all pages is created, it is stored in the storage device 14 (step 43).
2). If there is other print data, the above process is repeated (step 434).

Next, the print output process will be described. FIG. 5 is a print output processing flowchart of the print control apparatus. First, the control unit 12 reads the document image data from the storage device 14 (step 501) and determines whether the error flag is "1" (step 502). When the error flag is not "1", the printer 3 is controlled to print the page having the print image data status number "S1" in the single color and the page having the "S3" status in the color (step 510). To finish.

If the error flag is "1" in step 502, it is judged whether the print output mode is set to 2 or 9 (step 503), and the print output mode is set to 2 or 9. Stops the printing process (step 550), deletes the document image data file and print data stored in the storage device 14 (step 551), and ends the process.

If the print output mode is not set to 2 or 9 in step 503, the process proceeds to step 504, and it is determined whether the print output mode is 1 or 8. If the print output mode is 1 or 8, it is further determined whether or not the print output mode is 1 (step 520). If the print output mode is 1, control is performed to print all pages in color. (Step 52
1), the process ends. On the other hand, if the print output mode is not 1 in step 520, control is performed to print all pages in a single color (step 522), and the process ends. Here, where the error occurs,
For example, the portion corresponding to the character code is replaced with a blank or black square image or the like for output.

If the setting of the print output mode is not 1 or 8 in step 504, the process proceeds to step 505, and it is determined whether the print output mode is 3 or 10. If the print output mode is 3 or 10,
Further, it is determined whether or not the print output mode is 3 (step 530). When the print output mode is 3, only the pages except the page having the status number "S4" are printed in color. Control is performed (step 531), and the process ends. On the other hand, if the print output mode is not 3 in step 530, control is performed to print only all the pages in a single color except the page whose status number is "S2" (step 53).
2), the process ends.

If the print output mode is not 3 or 10 in step 505, it is further determined whether the print output mode is 6 or 7 or 11 (step 506), and the print output mode is 6 or 7 or 11. 1
If it is 1, it is further determined whether the print output mode is 7 (step 540), and the print output mode is 7
If it is, only the page with the status number “S5” is controlled to be printed in a single color (step 545),
The process ends. If the print output mode is not 7 in step 540, it is further determined whether the print output mode is 6 (step 541). If the print output mode is 6, the status number is "S4". Control to print only the page in color (Step 5
42), the process ends. On the other hand, if the print output mode is not 6 in step 541, control is performed to print only the page with the status number "S2" in a single color (step 543), and the process is ended.

On the other hand, if the print output mode is not 6 or 7 or 11 in step 506, it is further judged whether or not the print output mode is 4 (step 507), and the print output mode is 4. Controls to print the other pages in color with the page having the status number "S5" in color (step 50).
8), the process ends. On the other hand, if the print output mode is not 4 in step 507, control is performed to print all pages in a single color (step 509), and the process ends.

In this way, according to the set print output mode number, the print output process is performed, and the printer 3 performs a predetermined print output, or the print process is stopped.

Thus, for example, the print output mode is 4
In this case, since the page in which the error has occurred is printed in a single color, the user can quickly and clearly know the page in which the error has occurred from the output result. Of course, the same applies to other cases, and the user can arbitrarily set the print output mode in consideration of economical print output. When an error occurs during the image creating process, the location of the error and the error content are displayed on the display unit 4. Also, the place where the error occurred and the content of the error are collected and output from the printer as a single report. As a result, more detailed information regarding the error can be known. Further, in the present embodiment, the print output mode is set on the assumption that the page output is performed, but the print output mode may not be set in page units.

[0027]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the print image data is printed out by the printer capable of printing both the color and the single color, the print image data is generated during the process of creating the print image data from the input print data. When a failure occurs, the conversion processing is performed when converting the print image data according to the print output mode selected from the preset multiple print output modes, and the print output to the printer based on the conversion processing result. Take control.

Therefore, by selecting the optimum print output mode, it is possible to flexibly perform economical printer operation when an error occurs.

Further, there is an advantage that it is possible to easily know that an error has occurred in print output units based on the print output result in the print output mode.

Further, there is an advantage that the detailed error information is output to the display device or the printing means.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a print control apparatus that is a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of document image data created by a print image creating unit 16.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing print output mode numbers and their modes.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of print image data creation processing.

FIG. 5 is a print output processing flowchart of the print control apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Print Control Device 2 External Device 3 Printer 4
Display unit 5 Keyboard 11 Input interface unit 12
Control unit 13 Printer interface unit 14 Storage device 15 Font memory 16 Print image creation unit 1
7 Error detection part 18 Color / single color judgment part

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A printing means capable of printing and outputting in both color and monochrome, image data generating means for generating print image data from input data, storage means for storing the input data and the image data, and the input. In the case where an error is detected by the error detection unit, a determination unit that determines whether the data is color or a single color, an error detection unit that detects an error that occurs in the step of creating print image data,
A printing control apparatus comprising: a control unit that performs a predetermined control only when the input data is color. 2. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when an error is detected by the error detecting means, all pages are regenerated into single-color print image data. 3. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when an error is detected by the error detection main stage, only the page in which the error has occurred is regenerated into single-color print image data. 4. The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when an error is detected by the error detecting means, generation of print image data of a page in which the error has occurred is prohibited. 5. The print control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when an error is detected by the error detecting unit, information regarding the error is output to a display device or a printing unit.