JP2901526B2 - Character generator - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character generator, and more particularly to a character generator having an outline font character generating function formed by vector data in various information processing apparatuses such as a word processor and a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of character generating apparatus generates a dot font character pattern having a dot image of a character as data, and an outline font character pattern having a character outline pattern as vector data. There is. Recently, character generators using outline fonts, in which the character outline pattern has a smaller data amount than the dot character font pattern, and an outline font in which a smooth curve can be easily represented by vector data, are widely used.

FIG. 8 is a functional block diagram showing an example of a conventional character generating apparatus using an outline font, which is actually used as a N5170 total printing system by NEC Corporation for workstations, plain paper printers, film printers and the like. This is a general block diagram of a character generator using an outline font. FIG. 7 shows a character generation area handled in the conventional example of FIG.
FIG. 7A shows a character design size which is a size at which a designer designs a character, and FIG. 7B shows a bounding box () surrounding a character for eliminating a blank existing around the character in the character design size. Hereinafter, abbreviated as B-BOX). FIG. 6 shows data handled by each processing unit of the conventional example in FIG. 8, FIG. 6A shows a font memory configuration, FIG. 6B shows work merrily, FIG. FIG. 6D shows an output image.

Next, the operation of this conventional example will be described with reference to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8. A case where the character of the "ko" of the hiragana shown in FIG. 7A is generated will be described as an example. First,
The host device 1 inputs the character code of “ko” to the character generator 16. As shown in FIG. 6A, the font memory 2 stores a character code of each character and coordinate point information for forming a character outline corresponding to each character.
When the character code of “ko” is input, the character code stored in the character code storage area is checked, then the address of the coordinate point information storage area to be read next is read, and the coordinate point information in the coordinate point information storage area is read. Output. The coordinate point information is
The X and Y coordinates, which are the changing points of the vector forming the character outline of "ko", are sequentially output from the font memory 2 from the start point to the second point, the third point, ... and the end point.

[0005] The contour drawing control unit 12 has a font memory 2
Then, the coordinate point information is input, and the outline of this “ko” as shown in FIG. After the drawing process is completed, the contour drawing control unit 12 outputs a filling instruction to the filling unit 13. The filling unit 13 includes the working memory 4
From the left side within the character design size, reads out a data of a fixed amount (temporarily described as one word),
If the outline of the character exists, the result of the filling as shown in FIG. 6C is obtained while filling the inside of the character outline.

The transfer unit 10 performs a transfer process to an output position of the output device 11 as shown in FIG. 6D in order to output to an output device 11 such as a display or a printer. This process is repeated for each character to create one screen of the display or one page of the printer.

As described above, the filling is completed. However, in this process, since one word of each line is read, determined, converted, and the like, the filling process is a problem of this type of outline font processing. , Its improvements,
Various ideas have been devised for speeding up. As one of the methods, the following method that focuses on the space outside the B-BOX in the character design size has been considered and implemented (Adobe).
Systems: Refer to the POSTSCRIPT reference manual).

Next, the operation in the case where the B-BOX is used will be described. The B-BOX is a bounding box that just surrounds the actual character in the character design size, as shown in FIG. In this case, FIG.
The operation is almost the same as the example of FIG.
, The coordinate point information is read out, and the outline of the character is drawn from the outline drawing control unit 12 to the work memory 4. The filling unit 13 reads data from the working memory 4 and performs filling.
The size handled at this time is B-BOX. The data after the filling is transferred to the output position of the output device 11 by the transfer unit 14.

[0009]

In the above-described prior art, the efficiency of the filling process is improved by noting the processing of the blank portion other than the B-BOX in the character design size and omitting the processing of the blank portion. However, depending on the shape of the character, there may be a blank portion. For example, as shown in FIG.
In the case of, the character design size and the B-BOX are as shown in the figure, and there are many blank portions between the “a” portion and the “b” portion of “this” in the B-BOX. In addition, in the case of the symbol character "●" as shown in FIG. 2B, there are many black portions opposite to the blank in the character.

An object of the present invention is to pay attention to the fact that a blank portion may further exist depending on the shape of a character, and to further improve the efficiency of a filling process in a character generator using an outline font system, thereby achieving a high-speed character. A generator is provided.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided a character generating apparatus comprising: a font memory for storing coordinate point information for forming a character outline corresponding to a character code inputted from a host device; A contour drawing control unit for reading the coordinate point information from the font memory in response to a character generation processing start instruction and drawing the character contour; a working memory for drawing the character contour from the contour drawing control unit; A character generation device comprising: a filling unit that reads out the character outline thus formed and fills the inside of the character outline; and a transfer unit that transfers the filled character to a position of an output image. At the time of drawing the character outline, a flag is set for the group in which the outline is drawn among the groups of one line or one word. A character table memory, 1 black data generator for outputting a black data of one group in the case of performing the fill group content all, fill content as the working memory of the flag from the character table memory when performing
A fill data control unit that controls switching between the fill data from the fill unit and the black data from the black data generation unit with reference to the contents; and data that switches data in accordance with an instruction from the fill data control unit. A switching unit.

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are a work memory and a character memory showing a character generation processing area for explaining the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the contents of the table memory, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the rule of a flag written in the character table memory of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 1, a character generator 15 of this embodiment includes a font memory 2 storing coordinate point information forming a character outline corresponding to a character code input from a higher-level device 1, A contour drawing controller 3 for reading coordinate point information from the font memory 2 and drawing a character contour in response to a character generation processing start instruction from the host device 1, and a work memory 4 for drawing a character contour from the contour drawing controller 3
And a filling unit 6 for reading the character outline drawn in the working memory 4 and filling the inside of the character outline, and a transfer unit 1 for transferring the filled character to a position in the output image.
0, a character table memory 5 for setting a flag for a group in which a contour is drawn in a group of one line or one word when a character contour is drawn from the contour drawing control unit 3 to the work memory 4; A black data generation unit 7 that outputs one group of black data when filling is performed, and a filling data from the filling unit 6 and a black data generation unit 7 based on the contents of the flag from the character table memory 5 when performing the filling. It is composed of a filling data control unit 8 for controlling switching to black data, and a data switching unit 9 for switching data in accordance with an instruction from the filling data control unit 8.

The host device 1 inputs a character code into the font memory 2. The font memory 2 stores coordinate point information for forming a character outline for each character code. The outline drawing control unit 3 receives the coordinate point information read from the font memory 2 as an input, draws a character outline in the work memory 4, and stores, in the character table memory 5, the vertical and horizontal splits of each line and a certain data length. A group is created, and a flag is set as information of the group when drawing is performed at least once for each group. The filling unit 6 reads character outline data from the work memory 4 at a certain data length, and fills the inside of the character outline. The black data generator 7 outputs all black data (all 1 data) having a certain data length. The fill data control unit 8
Based on the character outline data output from the work memory 4 and the contents of the flag from the character table memory 5, the black data generation unit 7 is instructed to output black data, and the data switching unit 9 is instructed to switch data. The data switching unit 9 switches and outputs the data of the filling unit 6 and the data of the black data generation unit 7. The transfer unit 10 transfers the character data from the data switching unit 9 onto an output image of an output device 11 such as a display or a printer.

Next, the operation of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. First, referring to FIG. 2 as a first embodiment,
An example in which a Hiragana “ko” character as shown in FIG. 7A is generated as in the prior art will be described. First,
The character code of “ko” is input from the host device 1. Since the font memory 2 stores the character code of each character and coordinate point information for forming a character contour corresponding to each character as shown in FIG. "
, And sequentially reads out the coordinate point information forming the “ko” character from the character code stored in the character code storage area. The contour drawing control unit 3 receives the coordinate point information read from the font memory 2 as an input, and inputs the coordinate point information shown in FIG.
The character outline of “ko” as shown by is drawn in the working memory 4. At the same time, as shown in FIG. 2 (A), a group vertically divided by a certain data length (tentatively described as one word) in the X-axis direction on the working memory 4 and a horizontal division by one line in the Y-axis direction. When the drawing is performed even once for each group, a flag is set in the character table memory 5 as the X table 41 in the X axis direction and the Y table 42 in the Y axis direction.

Here, the rule of the flag written in the character table memory 5 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The grid of the working memory 4 shown in FIG.
For example, a case where such a shape is drawn on the work memory 4 in the order of dots D1 to D14 will be described. 4 dots of data in the X direction are treated as one group, and data 1 in the Y direction
Each dot is treated as one group, and each time one dot is drawn, the X table 4
1, the flag is set to "1" in the Y table 42, respectively. That is, for D1, the X table 41d and the Y table 42n are set to "1". Next, for D2, the X table 41c and the Y table 42m are set to "1". Similarly, drawing is performed for D3 to D14. DD is the D of the X table 41 and the Y table 42.
All of a to f and g to p which are "1" for 1 to D14 are rendered as "1", and the others are rendered as "0". The contents of the resulting table DD will be used in the next filling. Therefore, in the case of this character, one word of data in the X-axis direction is treated as one group, and one dot of data in the Y-axis direction is treated as one group, and the result is as shown in FIG.

Next, the filling unit 6 reads the character outline data word by word from the working memory 4 and fills the inside of the character outline as shown in FIG. 5B. In FIG. 5B, D2 to D13 and D4 to D1 on the outline of the character and inside the outline.
Although the space between 1 and the like is filled, first, the four dots of the working memory 4 are grouped as one group, and the filling process is sequentially performed from the upper left. The filling data control unit 8 reads the first four dots from the working memory 4 and reads the X table 41DDa and the Y table 42DDg from the character table memory 5. At this time, since the Y table 42DDg is "0", it is determined that there is no contour in this line.
It instructs the filling unit 6 to read the next line, and also instructs the transfer unit 10 to omit the first line filling process. Similarly, the first four dots are read from the working memory 4 for the second line, and the X table 41DDa and the Y table 42DDh are read from the character table memory 5. Y
Since the table 42DDh is "1", it is determined that an outline exists in this line, and when the X table 41 is viewed, the X table 41DDa is "0", so that it is determined that no outline exists in this group. And 2 to the painted part 6
It instructs to read the next group in the line, and also instructs the transfer unit 10 to omit the filling process for this group. Subsequently, the next four dots on the second line are read from the working memory 4 and the X table 41D is read from the character table memory 5.
Read Db. Since the X table 41DDb is "1", it can be determined that a contour exists, and 4
When the dot is confirmed, since the contour exists, the filling unit 6 is instructed to perform the filling process, the data switching unit 9 is instructed to output the data from the filling unit 6, and the transfer unit 10 is instructed.
Indicates that the transfer should be made to the position where the character should be generated. The filling unit 6 reads outline data for 4 dots from the working memory 4 at the same time as the filling data control unit 8,
D7 and D8 on the outline are painted out. The filled data passes through the data switching unit 9 and is output to the output device 11 by the transfer unit 10. Similarly, the third group on the second line reads the contour data from the work memory 4 and the X table 41DDc from the character table memory 5. Although the X table 41DDc is "1", there is no contour in the contour data, and it is not inside the contour. Therefore, an instruction is given not to perform the filling process as in the first group. Thereafter, similarly, the filling process is not performed from the fourth group on the second line. The filling process is similarly performed for the third line and the fourth line. However, in the third group of the fourth line, the filling is performed from the dot D11 in the second group, and the third group is inside the outline. This is input from the filling unit 6 to instruct not to perform the filling process. At the same time, it instructs the black data generation unit 7 to generate 4-bit black data, and instructs the data switching unit 9 to output the black data from the black data generation unit 7. In this manner, the filling process is performed for all the lines, and FIG.
The result of the filling in (B) is obtained.

Also in the case of "ko", the filling process of the portion represented by the dotted line on the working memory 4 is omitted while using the X table 41 and the Y table 42 as shown in FIG. The filling process is performed only on the right oblique lines, and FIG. 6 (C)
Are obtained, and the transfer unit 10 transfers the result as an output image as shown in FIG.

In the case of the symbol character "●" shown in FIG. 2 (B), the same processing as "ko" is performed, but the overlapped portion of the right diagonal line and the left diagonal line at the center of the character is all black. From the filling data control unit 8 to the filling unit 6 to instruct not to perform the filling process, to the black data generating unit 7 to output one word of black data, and the data switching unit 9.
The instruction to output black data from the black data generating unit 7 indicates that all black portions are to be filled.

Further, as a second embodiment, the character table memory 5 described in the first embodiment is provided, and the data read from the work memory 4 in the filling data control unit 8 has an outline. An example of providing only one of the functions of omitting the filling process when not performed will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing contents of a working memory and a character table memory showing a character generation processing area when only the character table memory 5 is provided,
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the contents of the working memory indicating the character generation processing area when the character table memory 5 is not provided. In particular, FIG. 3A shows a case where only the Y table in the Y-axis direction is provided. Only points different from the first embodiment will be described. When drawing an outline, when drawing is performed in one group with one line as one group, a flag 1 is set in the Y table. After all the drawing is completed, the filling unit 6 performs the filling process. The filling data control unit 8 reads the Y table from the character table memory 5 and fills only one line of the Y tables a, b, h, o, and p. Processing can be omitted. FIG. 3B shows a case where only the X table in the X-axis direction is provided. Unlike FIG. 3A, when one word is vertically divided into one group and the drawing is performed for each group, the flag 1 is set in the X table. At the time of painting, the painting process for one word only in X tables a and e can be omitted. FIG.
(C) shows a case where an X table and a Y table are provided in both the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. In the case of FIG. 3 (C), the filling process for one line is omitted for the Y tables i, m, w, and x, and the X tables a, b, and
The filling process for one word of e and h can be omitted.

FIG. 4 does not include the character table memory 5 and determines the execution of the filling process based on data from the work memory 4 which is all input by the filling data control unit 8. The data input from the working memory 4 is read out one word at a time, and the filling process is omitted only when there is no outline and when it is not inside the outline of the character. X-axis side a and Y-axis side i at the upper left of working memory (group a-i)
First, skip the filling process, and then group b
-I, c-i, di, ... are read out for each group of one word, the painting process is advanced, and the painting result is obtained.

In the above description, one group in the X-axis direction has been described as one word. However, it is not necessary to fix the word to one word, and the present invention can be similarly implemented even with a predetermined data length.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the description is made on the assumption that the working memory before processing is always cleared to 0, so that the working memory is cleared to 0 before the character generation processing. Condition. Furthermore, it can also be used in combination with the B-BOX described in the prior art.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When drawing the outline of the character in the working memory, one line or one line
A character table memory for setting a flag only for a group in which an outline is drawn in a group of words,
A black data generating unit that outputs black data for one group when all the data for one group is filled, and eliminates the filling processing or outputs the black data from the data from the working memory or the data from the character table memory for the filling processing. By providing a fill data control unit that gives instructions and the like, it is possible to omit processing of blank parts existing inside the character design, and also eliminate processing of black parts opposite to white space such as the symbol character "●". By using the outline font method, the efficiency of the filling process in the character generator can be further increased, and the generation of outline font characters can be performed at high speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing contents of a working memory and a character table memory indicating a character generation area according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing contents of a working memory and a character table memory showing a character generation area according to another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing contents of a work memory indicating a character generation area according to another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a rule of a flag written in a character table memory.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating data handled by each processing unit according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a character generation area.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional character generator using an outline font.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper apparatus 2 Font memory 3 Outline drawing control part 4 Work memory 5 Character table memory 6 Filling part 7 Black data generation part 8 Filling data control part 9 Data switching part 10 Transfer part 11 Output device

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A font memory storing coordinate point information for forming a character contour corresponding to a character code input from a host device, and said coordinates from said font memory in response to a character generation process start instruction from said host device. A contour drawing control unit for reading point information and drawing the character contour, a working memory for drawing the character contour from the contour drawing control unit, and reading the character contour drawn in the work memory for reading the character contour inside the character contour A character generation device comprising a filling unit for filling a character and a transfer unit for transferring a filled character to a position of an output image, wherein one line or one word is used when drawing the character outline from the outline drawing control unit to the work memory. A character table memory for setting a flag for a group in which an outline is drawn in a unit group;
A black data generation unit that outputs black data for one group when filling is performed for one group; and the contents of a flag from the character table memory and the operation when performing filling.
A fill data control unit that controls switching between the fill data from the fill unit and the black data from the black data generation unit with reference to the contents of the memory, and data switching by an instruction from the fill data control unit. And a data switching unit for performing the following.