Patent Grant
6985244
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to printing in a network environment. More specifically, the present invention relates to controlling the amount of printing a network user may perform within a specified time period.
2. Description of Related Art
In a computer network environment, network users must often share the same printing resources. In this type of environment, large print jobs can cause considerable problems. If several network users are attempting to use the same printer at roughly the same time, a large print job can delay several smaller, subsequent print jobs. This essentially allows one person to disrupt the work of several people, leading to considerable productivity problems for the entire network. If several people are attempting to print large print jobs, the congestion can become even more severe.
In addition to problems of delay and congestion, large print jobs require considerable resources, such as paper and ink/toner. In addition to the direct financial costs for these resources, there are also environmental concerns related to the production of paper waste.
Since many network users do not directly bear the costs of their large print jobs, there is not much of an incentive to control their own use of the printer resources. Many large print jobs, though convenient for the user, may not be necessary for the user's work, and not worth the costs to network productivity as a whole.
Currently, there is no way for a computer network administrator to limit how many pages a network user may print within a specified time period. Therefore, a method for limiting the amount of printing a network user may perform within a specified time period, while allowing exceptions for necessary jobs, would be desirable.
The present invention provides a method for limiting the size of print jobs in a computer network by setting a predetermined quota for the number of pages a network user may print within a specified time period. If a print job submitted by a network user exceeds the print quota, the job will automatically be prevented from printing. If the submitted print job does not exceed the print quota, the job will be allowed to proceed. In one embodiment of the present invention, a network user may request special permission to exceed the print quota, if necessary.
The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
With reference now to the figures, and in particular with reference to
Distributed data processing system 100 is a network of computers in which the present invention may be implemented. Distributed data processing system 100 contains network 102, which is the medium used to provide communications links between various devices and computers connected within distributed data processing system 100. Network 102 may include permanent connections, such as wire or fiber optic cables, or temporary connections made through telephone connections. In the depicted example, server 104 is connected to network 102, along with storage unit 106. In addition, clients 108, 110 and 112 are also connected to network 102. These clients, 108, 110 and 112, may be, for example, personal computers or network computers.
For purposes of this application, a network computer is any computer coupled to a network that receives a program or other application from another computer coupled to the network. In the depicted example, server 104 provides data, such as boot files, operating system images and applications, to clients 108–112. Clients 108, 110 and 112 are clients to server 104. Distributed data processing system 100 may include additional servers, clients, and other devices not shown. Distributed data processing system 100 also includes printers 114, 116 and 118. A client, such as client 110, may print directly to printer 114. Clients such as client 108 and client 112 do not have directly attached printers. These clients may print to printer 116, which is attached to server 104, or to printer 118, which is a network printer that does not require connection to a computer for printing documents. Client 110, alternatively, may print to printer 116 or printer 118, depending on the printer type and the document requirements.
In the depicted example, distributed data processing system 100 is the Internet, with network 102 representing a worldwide collection of networks and gateways that use the TCP/IP suite of protocols to communicate with one another. At the heart of the Internet is a backbone of high-speed data communication lines between major nodes or host computers consisting of thousands of commercial, government, education, and other computer systems that route data and messages. Of course, distributed data processing system 100 also may be implemented as a number of different types of networks such as, for example, an intranet or a local area network.
Referring to
Peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus bridge 214 connected to I/O bus 212 provides an interface to PCI local bus 216. A number of modems 218–220 may be connected to PCI bus 216. Typical PCI bus implementations will support four PCI expansion slots or add-in connectors. Communications links to network computers 108–112 in
Additional PCI bus bridges 222 and 224 provide interfaces for additional PCI buses 226 and 228, from which additional modems or network adapters may be supported. In this manner, server 200 allows connections to multiple network computers. A memory mapped graphics adapter 230 and hard disk 232 may also be connected to I/O bus 212 as depicted, either directly or indirectly.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware depicted in
The data processing system depicted in
With reference now to
An operating system runs on processor 302 and is used to coordinate and provide control of various components within data processing system 300 in
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in
In reference to
With the print quotas in place, a network user can then submit a print job to one of the network printers, such as, for example, printers 116 or 118 in
If the requested print job exceeds the user's print quota, the job will be denied and automatically prevented from printing (step 404). If the requested print job does not exceed the user's print quota, the job will be allowed to print (step 407). After printing is completed, the invention logs how much of the user's quota has been used (step 408).
In one embodiment of the present invention, provisions are made for exceeding print quotas when necessary. Taking into account the fact that predetermined quotas will not be able to perfectly anticipate future printing needs, the present invention allows a network user to request special permission to exceed that user's print quota (step 405). This may be accomplished by means of, for example, a dialog box for submitting special requests to the network administrator. It is then up to the administrator to decide whether or not the user may exceed the print quota (step 406). If the administrator denies the special request, the print job in question will not be allowed to print (step 404). If the special request is granted, then the print job will be allowed to print (step 407).
Allowing special permission to exceed print quotas provides needed flexibility that cannot be accomplished with simple bright line rules, but still allows the administrator to minimize printing delays and the waste of limited resources. Special permission to exceed print quotas can also be automated and based on the total network printer use for that time interval, so that network administrators are not constantly bogged down with requests from users. In addition, special permission can be granted preemptively if a user is about to exceed his or her quota and network printer use is low for that time interval. In this way, the delay of having to process a formal request can be avoided.
By logging printer use for each network user in step 408, the network administrator can determine who the heaviest print users are. This information can be used to reign in users who might be wasting resources, or it could be used increase quotas for users with genuinely higher print requirements.
It is important to note that while the present invention has been described in the context of a fully functioning data processing system, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the processes of the present invention are capable of being distributed in the form of a computer readable medium of instructions and a variety of forms and that the present invention applies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearing media actually used to carry out the distribution. Examples of computer readable media include recordable-type media, such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a RAM, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, and transmission-type media, such as digital and analog communications links, wired or wireless communications links using transmission forms, such as, for example, radio frequency and light wave transmissions. The computer readable media may take the form of coded formats that are decoded for actual use in a particular data processing system.
The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.
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