JPH1049314A - Printer system and printer control method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] A printer system and a printer control method capable of issuing a print instruction to a plurality of printers by a simple operation and automatically performing a recovery process even when an error occurs in the printer. And provide. SOLUTION: The number of copies of a printed material to be printed and the range of printed pages of the printed material are instructed, and it is determined whether there is any available printer among printers 202 to 204 registered in a printer group registration table. According to the result of the determination, usually, an available printer (printer 20) is used.
2, 203) to control the print output based on the instruction, and monitor the operation status of the printer performing the print output. Then, when it is detected that the operation of the printer is abnormal, control is performed so that printout is performed using the recovery printer 204.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a printer system and a printer control method, and more particularly to a printer system and a printer control method including, for example, a personal computer, a workstation, and a plurality of printers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional printer system in which a plurality of printers can be used, a user cannot perform print processing using a plurality of printers by a single print instruction operation. Further, even if an error occurs during the printing process, the recovery operation has to be performed by the user himself.

[0003]

However, in the above conventional example, when a plurality of copies of a printed matter of a plurality of pages are printed,
When performing large-volume printing in a hurry, the same print instruction operation must be repeated many times, which is troublesome for the user. Also, if an error occurs in the printer, the printing process will be stopped, so if the user leaves the system after starting the print output and does not notice the error, the print output will take a long time. Is not performed, and as a result, there is a problem that a substantial print output throughput is reduced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional example, and is capable of giving a print instruction to a plurality of printers by a simple operation and automatically performing recovery processing even if an error occurs in the printer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer system and a printer control method capable of performing the above.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, a printer system according to the present invention has the following arrangement.

That is, in a printer system in which a host can use a plurality of printers connected via a network, an instruction means for instructing the number of prints to be printed and a print page range of the prints, Determining means for determining whether or not there is an available printer among the printers, and performing control so that printout is performed based on an instruction from the instruction means using an available printer in accordance with a determination result by the determining means. Print control means, a monitoring means for monitoring the operation status of the printer on which the printout is performed, and a printer which is still available when the monitoring means detects an abnormality in the operation of the printer. Printer control means for controlling print output using the printer. Equipped with a stem.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer control method for controlling a plurality of printers connected to a host via a network, the method including designating the number of prints to be printed and a print page range of the prints. An instruction process to
A discriminating step of discriminating whether there is an available printer among the plurality of printers, and printing is performed based on an instruction in the instructing step using an available printer in accordance with a result of the discrimination in the discriminating step. A print control step for controlling the operation of the printer, a monitoring step for monitoring an operation state of the printer on which the printout is performed, and a state in which the abnormality is detected in the operation of the printer in the monitoring step. An alternative print control step of controlling print output using a printer.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS With the above construction, the present invention indicates the number of copies of a printed material to be printed and the range of pages to be printed on the printed material, and determines whether there is an available printer among a plurality of printers. In accordance with the result of the determination, control is performed so that printout is performed based on the instruction using an available printer, and the operation status of the printer performing the printout is monitored, and there is an abnormality in the operation of the printer. Is detected, control is performed so that printout is performed using a printer that is still available.

Here, among a plurality of printers, a first group of printers that are normally used and a second group of printers that are used when the first group of printers cannot be used may be registered. . First, control is performed so that printout is performed using a printer belonging to the first group, and if an abnormality is detected in a printer belonging to the first group, a printer belonging to the second group is used. To perform printout.

In determining whether there is an available printer, the printer status is requested to a plurality of printers, and the availability of the printer is determined based on the status corresponding to the response to the request. I do.

Further, in monitoring the operation status of the printer performing the print output, the status from the printer is received, the content of the received status is analyzed, and the abnormality of the printer performing the print output is determined in accordance with the analysis result. Detect.

Furthermore, when it is detected that there is an abnormality in the operation of the printer, when the printout is performed using a printer that is still available, the printout should be performed in the printer in which the operation abnormality occurred. The print control can be performed using the data of (1) or (2), or can be controlled so as to perform the print output of a series of printed matter including the print page being printed out at the time of the occurrence of the operation abnormality.

The abnormal operation of the printer includes running out of paper, paper jam, and the like.

The host and the plurality of printers may be connected by a LAN. Also, the multiple printers
A printer that performs printing in accordance with an electrophotographic system, a printer that performs printing in accordance with an inkjet system, and the like are included.

Further, the above series of processing is included in a host represented by, for example, a personal computer or a workstation.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a printer system according to a typical embodiment of the present invention. This system includes a personal computer (PC) 201 that generates print data and issues a print instruction, and a plurality of printers 202 to 205, which are connected to each other by a LAN transmission line 200, and exchange information according to a LAN protocol. It is possible. Although this system has a configuration in which one personal computer can use a plurality of printers for the sake of simplicity, it goes without saying that a plurality of personal computers may use a plurality of printers.

In the system shown in FIG. 1, among the printers 202 to 205, the printers 202 to 203
The printer is recognized by the PC 201 as a grouped printer (hereinafter, referred to as a grouped printer). The information on the grouping is stored in a printer group registration table (described later) in the PC 201. Grouping is merely recognition in the PC 201, and does not have a special status on the printer side. On the other hand, the printers 204 to 205
From 01, printers that are not recognized as grouped printers (out-of-group printers). The printer 204 is defined in the PC 201 as a printer (recovery printer) used when the grouped printer becomes unavailable. This recovery printer is also recognized by the PC 201, and does not have a status or the like on the printer side. Information for defining a recovery printer is also stored in a printer group registration table (described later) in the PC 201.

Note that "grouping", "out of group",
The definition and concept of the “recovery printer” will be described later in detail.

FIG. 2 shows a personal computer (PC) 201 which is a component of the printer system shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the printer and printers 202 to 205. FIG. 2 shows only the configuration of the printer 202 among the printers 202 to 205 for simplicity of description. The configuration of each of the printers 203 to 205 is basically the same as that of the printer 202.

Now, a personal computer (PC) 2
Reference numeral 01 denotes a display unit 301 including an LCD and a CRT for displaying various information; an input unit 302 including a keyboard and a mouse for inputting information and various operation instructions;
A CPU 303 that controls the entire C and executes information processing by executing various processing programs; a communication unit 304 that communicates with the printers 202 to 205 via the LAN transmission line 200;
An external storage unit 305 such as a magnetic disk, a magneto-optical disk, or a floppy disk for storing a large amount of information.
And a ROM for storing a control program and a processing program to be executed by the CPU 303.
The RAM 303 is used as a work area when the PU 303 executes, and the memory 306 includes an NVRAM for holding various constants and the like.

On the other hand, the printer 202 includes a printer controller (hereinafter, referred to as a controller) 202a and a printer engine 311. Controller 202
Reference numeral a denotes a ROM storing a control program for controlling the entire printer, a processing program for performing print processing, and the like, and a work area for processing these programs, and for temporarily storing print data sent from the PC 201. 30 having RAM and the like used for
7, a communication unit 308 that communicates with the PC 201 via the LAN transmission line 200, a CPU 309 that executes various programs stored in the ROM to control the entire apparatus and the printer engine 311 and executes print processing, And an external storage unit 310 such as an IC card, a magneto-optical disk, or a magnetic disk for storing the data.

As the printer engine 311, for example, devices according to various image forming methods such as an electrophotographic system and an ink jet system can be used.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of a printer including a printer engine 311 for performing recording by adopting an electrophotographic system.

The printer engine 311 forms an image on recording paper as a recording medium based on the supplied character pattern and the like. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 100 denotes an operation panel on which a switch for operation and an LED display are arranged.
A printer control unit 1 controls the entire printer and analyzes character pattern information and the like. In the block diagram of FIG. 2, the controller 10 excluding the printer engine 311
0 is included in the printer control unit 101.

The laser driver 102 is a semiconductor laser 10
3 for driving the laser light 1 emitted from the semiconductor laser 103 in accordance with the input video signal.
04 is turned on / off. The laser beam 104 is swung right and left by a rotating polygon mirror 105 to scan on an electrostatic drum 106. Thus, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 106. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 107 around the electrostatic drum 106,
Transferred to recording paper. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper. The cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 108 mounted on a printer, taken in the apparatus by a paper feed roller 109 and transport rollers 110 and 111, and supplied to an electrostatic drum 106. Is done.

In this way, the given print data is recorded and output on paper.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing the outline of the configuration of an ink jet printer IJRA which performs recording by employing an ink jet system. Referring to FIG.
Driving force transmission gear 5009-
The carriage HC that engages with the helical groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 rotating via 5011 has a pin (not shown), and is supported by the guide rail 5003 to reciprocate in the directions of arrows a and b. In the carriage HC,
An integrated ink-jet cartridge IJC containing a print head IJH and an ink tank IT is mounted. A paper pressing plate 5002 presses the recording paper P against the platen 5000 in the moving direction of the carriage HC. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote photocouplers, which are home position detectors for confirming the presence of the carriage lever 5006 in this region and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. 5016 is a recording head IJH
Reference numeral 5015 denotes a suction device that suctions the inside of the cap, and performs suction recovery of the recording head through an opening 5023 in the cap. Reference numeral 5017 denotes a cleaning blade.
Reference numeral 19 denotes a member which allows the blade to move in the front-rear direction, and these members are supported by a main body support plate 5018.
It goes without saying that the blade is not limited to this form and a known cleaning blade can be applied to this example. Also, 50
Reference numeral 21 denotes a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, which moves with the movement of the cam 5020 engaging with the carriage, and the driving force from the drive motor is controlled by a known transmission mechanism such as clutch switching. .

The capping, cleaning, and suction recovery are configured so that desired operations can be performed at the corresponding positions by the action of the lead screw 5005 when the carriage comes to the area on the home position side. If a desired operation is performed at the timing, any of the embodiments can be applied.

Next, a description will be given of a printer group registration table internally held by the PC 201 and registration processing in the table.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a printer group registration table.

As shown in FIG. 5, this table includes columns for setting information indicating a group name, a printer type, a printer name, and a printer position. In the printer system, the user can arbitrarily group a plurality of printers with respect to the printers that can be used from the PC 201 via the LAN transmission line 200. By setting the above information in this table, A plurality of printers can be automatically operated under the following conditions.

Now, of the information set in this table, the printer name is, for example, LBP1, LBP2, LBP3,... For each printer so that all printers belonging to the printer system can be distinguished. ... are uniquely named. Among the printers belonging to each group, the printer normally used by the PC 201 is designated as the “main printer” in the printer type, and the printer used as a backup when the main printer is unavailable is designated as the “recovery printer” in the printer type. It is specified. Here, the number of “main printers” may be one, or two or more. Further, the "recovery printer" can designate a printer which does not belong to the group. For example, in the case of the printer system shown in FIG. 1, the printer 202 and the printer 203 are grouped into one group, and both are registered in the table as “main printer”.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a printer outside the group, which is registered in the table as a “recovery printer”.

The printer position is information that enables the installation position of the printer belonging to the system to be distinguished as a relative position from the PC 201.
"LPT1", "LPT2",...
... and so on.

When the above-described information is set in the table as described above, this printer system prints a plurality of copies (N copies) of a plurality of pages (M pages) and a plurality of (L copies).
(1) Performing print processing (this is called split printing) using the main printer, and performing print processing (this is called recovery) using a recovery printer when the main printer is unavailable. it can.
Here, L, M, and N are natural numbers, respectively.

For example, if the number of printers is larger than the number of prints (N <L), N printers, one copy at a time,
Print a copy. At this time, another printer ((LN) units)
Is available, one copy of printed matter is not divided and output using a plurality of printers. Also,
If the number of copies is greater than the number of printers (N> L),
The process of printing out the printed matter one set at a time to the L printers is repeated until N printed matters are output.

On the other hand, during the division printing using the L main printers, if a printing error such as a paper shortage or a paper jam occurs and printing cannot be continued using the main printer, a recovery printer is used. The rest will be output.

For example, a printed matter of M pages is
If the print error occurrence point is “E page (1 ≦ E ≦ M)” when the print job is assigned to print only one copy,
From the Eth page to the Mth page are output by the recovery printer. Further, the printed matter of page M is sent to the printer as “N1 copy (1 ≦ N1
≦ N) ”, if the print error occurrence point is the“ E2 page ”of the“ N2 copy (1 ≦ N2 ≦ N1) ”, the Eth page and subsequent pages of the“ N2 copy ” "N1
Either all pages up to the “N” copy are output by the recovery printer, or all pages from the first “N2” copy to the “N1” copy are output by the recovery printer.

Next, a process of registering a printer group in the printer group registration table will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. This processing is performed by the PC 20
This is performed by one CPU 303 executing a processing program stored in the memory 306.

First, in step S501, the printer group registration table stored in the external storage unit 305 is read into the memory 306. Next, step S5
02, the printer group registration table is displayed on the display unit 30.
First, a printer group name recognized by the system is input using the input unit 302, and then in step S503, the printer type of the printer classified as "main printer" as the group type of the group is displayed. In step S504, a printer name of a printer classified as a “recovery printer” is input. Further, in step S505, the printer position of each printer is input.

Next, in step S506, the printer group name, the main printer printer name, the recovery printer printer name, and the printer position of each printer input as described above are stored in the printer registration table in the memory 306. In step S507, the printer registration table on the memory 306 is output to the external storage unit 306 to store the registered information.

Further, print processing in the printer system having the above configuration will be described with reference to flowcharts shown in FIGS.

First, the status response process and the printer engine control process, which are processes on the printer side, will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. These processes are performed by the CPU 309 of the printer reading and executing a processing program stored in the memory 307.

Status response processing (FIG. 7) First, in step S601, P
A status response request in a predetermined format issued by C201 is received. Next, in step S602, the current status of the printer engine is read from the printer engine 311. Then, in step S603, the communication unit 3
Through 08, the status read in step S602 is returned to the PC 201 side.

Printer Engine Control Process (FIG. 8) First, in step S701, print data is received via the communication unit 308, and in subsequent step S702, the received print data is stored in the memory 307.

In step S 703, a fixed amount is output from the received print data to the printer engine 311. Then, the status of the printer engine 311 is read in step S704, and the status is checked in step S705. Here, the check result,
If you determine that the print process is running normally,
The process advances to step S706 to check whether printing of all data has been completed. Here, if it is determined that printing of all data has been completed, the process proceeds to step S707. If it is determined that printing has not been completed, the process returns to step S703.

On the other hand, as a result of the status check, if it is determined that the printing process has not been executed normally (printing abnormality), the process proceeds to step S708.

Now, the process proceeds to step S707.
A status in a predetermined format indicating that the printing process has been completed normally is transmitted to the PC via the communication unit 306, and the process ends. In step S708,
A status in a predetermined format indicating that an error has occurred in the printing process is transmitted to the PC via the communication unit 306, and the process ends.

Next, a personal computer (PC) 2
FIG. 9 and FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. These processes are performed by the CPU 303 of the PC 201 reading out and executing the processing program stored in the memory 306. Here, using the keyboard of the input unit 302, the number of printed copies of the printed material to be printed and output and the number of pages (all pages or printed page range) of the printed material are designated.

First, in step S101, the printer group registration table is read from the external storage unit 305 to the memory 306. In step S102, the status of the main printer and the recovery printer in the group is transmitted via the communication unit 304 based on the read table. Read from printer. In the printer system shown in FIG. 1, the PC 201 reads the statuses of the printers 202 to 204.

Next, in step S103, the contents of the received status are checked. Here, if it is determined that all the printers set in the printer group registration table are unusable, the process proceeds to step S110,
A message to the effect that all the printers cannot be used and printout cannot be performed is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 301, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined that at least one of the printers set in the printer group registration table is in a usable state, the process proceeds to step S104.

In step S104, the print data stored in the external storage unit 305 or the CPU 30
3 reads, for example, print data generated by executing a document processing program or the like into a predetermined area of the memory 306, and further, in Step S105, for example, the input unit 30
The printing process is executed in accordance with the number of print copies or the number of copies to be printed (C) designated by the keyboard 2 and the number of available printers (AP). In this case, if C ≧ AP, AP print processes are executed, and if C <AP, C print processes are executed. The detailed processing of the printing process will be described later.

In step S106, the status returned from the printing process is received.
At 07, the status is checked. As a result, if it is determined that the printing process has been completed normally, the process proceeds to step S108, and further, it is determined whether or not all the print output to be printed has been completed. If it is determined that all the print processes have been completed, the process proceeds to step S109, and a message indicating that the print output has been normally completed, and information such as which printer has output which copies and how many copies have been output. Is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 301, and the process ends. On the other hand, if it is determined that the print output for all the copies has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S
Returning to 105, the processing is continued.

On the other hand, as a result of the status check in step S107, if it is determined that an error has occurred in the printing process, the process proceeds to step S111.
A print process is started and executed for a recovery printer (e.g., the printer 204 corresponds to this in the case of the printer system shown in FIG. 1) so as to print out the remaining portion when an error occurs. In the execution of this process, all data originally intended to be printed out to the printer where the error has occurred may be printed out from the recovery printer. Then, in step S112, the status from the printing process executed by the recovery printer is received, and in step S113
To check its status. As a result, if it is determined that the printing process has been completed normally, the process advances to step S114 to display a “print information message” indicating that printing has been performed on the recovery printer on the display screen of the display unit 301. Returns to step S108. On the other hand, if it is determined that an error has occurred in the print process being executed by the recovery printer, the process proceeds to step S115, and a “print information message” indicating that the print output by the recovery printer has ended abnormally. Is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 301, and then the process returns to step S108.

Next, detailed processing of the printing process will be described.

First, in step S116, the memory 30
A certain amount of the print data stored in the predetermined area of No. 6 is transmitted to the printer via the communication unit 304, and in the next step S117, the response status from the printer to the print data transmission in step S116 is transmitted to the communication unit 304. Receive through. Then, step S1
In step 18, the contents of the reception response status are checked. As a result, if it is determined that the printing process is being performed normally, the process proceeds to step S119. If it is determined that the printing process has been abnormally terminated, the process proceeds to step S119. Goes to step S120.

Now, the process proceeds to step S119.
It is checked whether the print processing of all print data has been completed. Here, if it is determined that the printing process has not been completed, the process returns to step S116, but if it is determined that the printing process has been completed, the process proceeds to step S120. Finally, in step S120, the status indicating normal end or abnormal end is returned to the parent process (the process shown in FIG. 9), and the process ends.

Therefore, according to the embodiment described above, the printing process is executed using the printer registered in the printer group registration table. If an error occurs during the execution and the printing process cannot be continued, The recovery printer registered in the printer group registration table is automatically allocated for the print processing, the remaining data after the occurrence of the error is transmitted to the recovery printer, and the print processing can be continued from the recovery printer.

In this embodiment, when an error occurs during the printing process, the remaining data that should have been printed out from the printer in which the error occurred is output to the recovery printer. All pages of a series of printed matter including the page where the error has occurred may be output to the recovery printer again.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the recovery printer is registered in the printer group registration table in advance. However, when an error occurs, the PC searches for an available printer from the PC and uses the PC as a recovery printer. The control may be performed automatically, or the user may input the instruction.

Still another object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus. Needless to say, this can also be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided on a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instructions of the program code, It goes without saying that the CPU included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

When the present invention is applied to the storage medium, the storage medium stores program codes corresponding to the above-described flowcharts. In brief, an example of the memory map shown in FIG. Are stored in the storage medium.

That is, at least "a discrimination processing module for executing a discrimination process for discriminating whether there is an available printer among a plurality of printers" and "print output using an available printer according to the discrimination result." A print control process module that executes a print control process that controls the printer to perform a print process, a monitoring process module that executes a monitor process that monitors the operation status of a printer that performs print output, and a “ If an abnormality is detected in the operation,
The program code of each module of the "alternate print control processing module for executing an alternative print control process for controlling print output using a still available printer" may be stored in the storage medium.

Here, the discrimination processing module is shown in FIGS.
The print control processing module corresponds to the processing shown in FIG. 9 and the processing shown in FIG. 10, and the monitoring processing module corresponds to the processing shown in S106 and S103 in FIG.
The alternative print control process corresponds to the process illustrated in FIG. 107, the process illustrated in FIG. 10, and the like.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention, the number of prints to be printed and the print page range of the prints are specified, and it is determined whether or not there is an available printer among a plurality of printers. In accordance with the result of the determination, control is performed so that printout is performed based on the instruction using an available printer, and the operation status of the printer performing the printout is monitored, and there is an abnormality in the operation of the printer. Is detected, the control is performed so that printout is performed using a printer that is still available.
In addition to automatically performing print output using multiple printers at the same time, if a printer error occurs, automatically continue print output using another available printer There is an effect that can be.

As a result, the operability of the user is improved,
It is possible to prevent a delay in print output due to a printer error, thereby improving the total throughput.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printer system according to a representative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a personal computer (PC) 201, which is a component of the printer system shown in FIG. 1, and a configuration of printers 202 to 205.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view showing an internal structure of a printer including a printer engine which performs recording by adopting an electrophotographic method.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view illustrating an outline of a configuration of an inkjet printer IJRA that performs recording by employing an inkjet method.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a printer group registration table.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a printer group registration process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a status response process on the printer side.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a printer engine control process on the printer side.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating print processing on the personal computer (PC) side.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating details of a printing process.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a memory map.

[Explanation of symbols]

 200 LAN transmission line 201 Personal computer (PC) 202 to 205 Printer 301 Display unit 302 Input unit 303, 309 CPU 304, 308 Communication unit 305, 310 External storage unit 306, 307 Memory 311 Printer engine

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A printer system in which a host can use a plurality of printers connected via a network, wherein: an instruction means for instructing the number of copies of prints to be printed and a print page range of the prints; Determining means for determining whether there is an available printer among the printers, and controlling to cause a printout to be performed based on an instruction from the instruction means using an available printer according to a determination result by the determining means. A print control unit that monitors the operation status of the printer on which the printout is performed.If the monitor unit detects that there is an abnormality in the operation of the printer, a printer that is still available is used. Printer control means for controlling print output using the print system. Temu. 2. Registering means for registering a first group of printers which are normally used among the plurality of printers and a second group of printers which are used when the first group of printers cannot be used. The printer system according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The print control means controls to print out using a printer belonging to the first group, and the substitute print control means uses a printer belonging to the second group. 3. The printer system according to claim 2, wherein the printer system controls printing. 4. A determination unit for requesting the plurality of printers for a status of the printer, and determining availability of the printer based on a status corresponding to a response from the request unit. The printer system according to claim 1, further comprising: a determination unit. 5. A monitoring unit, comprising: a receiving unit for receiving a status from a printer on which the printout is performed; an analyzing unit for analyzing contents of the status received by the receiving unit; and an analysis result by the analyzing unit. 2. A printer system according to claim 1, further comprising a detection unit configured to detect an abnormality of the printer on which the printout is performed. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the alternative print control unit controls the printer in which the operation abnormality has occurred so as to perform the print output using the remaining data to be printed. Printer system. 7. The alternative print control means controls the printer in which an operation error has occurred so as to print out a series of prints including a print page being printed out at the time of the operation error occurrence. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein 8. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein the abnormality in the operation of the printer includes running out of paper, paper jam, and the like. 9. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein the network is a LAN. 10. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of printers include a printer that performs printing in accordance with an electrophotographic system and a printer that performs printing in accordance with an inkjet system. 11. The printer system according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit, the print control unit, the monitoring unit, and the alternative print control unit are included in the host. 12. A printer control method for controlling a plurality of printers connected to a host via a network, comprising: an instruction step of instructing the number of prints to be printed and a print page range of the prints; A discriminating step of discriminating whether or not there is an available printer among the plurality of printers, and, according to the discrimination result in the discriminating step, using an available printer, performing printout based on an instruction in the instructing step A print control step of controlling; a monitoring step of monitoring an operation state of the printer on which the printout is performed; and a printer that is still available if an abnormality is detected in the operation of the printer in the monitoring step. An alternative print control step of controlling print output using the print control. Printer control method. 13. A computer-readable memory storing a program code for executing a process for controlling a plurality of printers connected to a host via a network, wherein there is an available printer among the plurality of printers. A code for executing a determination step of determining whether or not, a code for executing a print control step of controlling printing to be performed using an available printer according to the determination result in the determination step, and the print output is performed. A code for executing a monitoring step for monitoring the operation status of the printer, and a control for performing a print output using a printer that is still available when an abnormality is detected in the operation of the printer in the monitoring step. And a code for executing an alternative print control step. Yuta readable memory.