Importance

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Abstract

The rasterize processing for obtaining printing picture element information from a source file described in a page-description language is distributed-processed by a plurality of information processing units (6a, 6b, 6c) loose connected via a network (7). In the information processing unit (6a) which generates a printing request, a client process (210) converts a source file (19) into an intermediate code file (10) and further divides the intermediate code file into a plurality of partial files executable in the rasterize processing, independently. A part of these plural partial files is given to a rasterizer (212) of the information processing unit (6a) which generates a printing request, so as to be rasterized into picture element information. The remaining part of the plural partial files are distributed to the other information processing units (6b, 6c) via the network. In each of these other information processing units (6b, 6c), the distributed partial file is received by a server process (211), transmitted to the rasterizer (212) to form partial picture element information. These partial picture element information formed by these other information processing units (6b, 6c) are returned to the information processing unit (6a) which generates the printing request. In this information processing unit (6a) which generates the printing request, the client process (210) combines the picture element information returned from the other information processing units (6b, 6c) with the picture element information formed by the rasterizer (212) of its own unit, to form the entire picture element information. The entire picture element information is transmitted to a printing unit (21).

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First Claim