JP3370838B2 - Character data 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 data generator for displaying a character in a so-called outline font on a printer, a monitor or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an outline font is displayed on a printer or the like, the outline of the character is approximated by a plurality of straight lines (short vectors), and the intersection of the virtual grid line and the short vector is obtained. A method of creating a dot font used to display is generally used. Here, as a character, for example, when one character is printed with a large character that straddles two printing sheets, or when a part of the character is expanded to a dot font to save memory (hereinafter referred to as clipping) For each short vector, whether or not it is necessary (whether or not to participate) in creating a dot font for partial display must be determined one by one. This hinders the speeding up of font expansion, and such an adverse effect occurs especially as the number of short vectors increases.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to speed up the processing when a character such as a character is partially expanded from an outline font to a dot font.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems and Actions / Effects] The features of the present invention can be summarized as follows. First, the target device displays the character by identifying the outline of the character with the data of the outline font formed by the continuation of individual short vectors, and obtaining the intersections of the short vectors and the virtual grid lines. Is a character data generator for obtaining dot font data (dot data) for The gist of this is to divide the entire outline of the character into a smaller number of segments than the number of short vectors by setting a plurality of sets of a series of segments, each of which is an appropriate number of consecutive short vectors. To do. Further, it is determined whether or not each segment is involved in the dot font data to be displayed, and for only the involved segment, the intersection point of the short vector and the grid line belonging to the segment is obtained and partially displayed. It is assumed that the dot font data to be generated is generated.

Further, when the entire short vector corresponding to the outline of the character is divided into a plurality of sets of segments,
In the coordinate reference direction of the short vector (for example, the Y direction in the XY coordinates) or the like, a continuous combination of the short vectors that monotonically decreases or a continuous combination of the short vectors that monotonically increases is set in a series of segments. On the other hand, the point at which the change from monotonous decrease to increase or from monotonous increase to decrease can be set as the start point of the next segment.

Further, there is provided clipping area loading means for loading the data in the coordinate system of the plurality of sets of segments in the segment registration means, and for loading the area to be partially displayed of the character, the coordinate data of the clipping area and the segments. Based on the comparison with the coordinate data of the segment registered in the registration means, it is possible to perform the process of determining whether or not each segment is involved in the partial dot development of the character.

According to the present invention, a short vector group approximating the outline of a character in an outline font is collected in appropriate numbers to form a segment, and the process of dividing the outline of the character into a plurality of segments is performed according to the concept of this segment. In order to determine whether or not it is necessary to develop fonts not in individual short vector units but in segment units in which a proper number of them are grouped in the development of partial dot font data, The number of judgments is reduced compared to processing in units, which leads to faster font expansion.

Further, not only when a part of the character is expanded from the outline font to the dot font,
Generally, in the development from the outline font to the dot font, by introducing the segment in which the appropriate number of short vectors are collected as one unit, this segment can be treated in the same manner as the conventional short vector. As a result, it becomes possible to regard an intersection of a short vector group belonging to one segment and a virtual lattice line as an intersection group of one conventional short vector and a virtual lattice line. As a result, the number of targets to be handled can be greatly reduced from the number of conventional short vector groups to the number of segments, and speeding up is realized by simplifying processing.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. First, basic points will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. In the present invention, first, as indicated by R1, the short vector group approximating the outline of the font is divided into a plurality of segments. As conceptually shown in FIG. 2, if the character "a" is taken as an example, the outline of the character has a plurality of short vectors V1,
V14 is approximated by V2, V3 ... V14, and each short vector is specified by the coordinates of the start point and end point of each of these short vectors V1, V2. And FIG. 2 (b)
In the counterclockwise direction (counterclockwise) of, the appropriate number of these short vectors are collected to make a segment ~,
This divides the outline of the character into segments. In this example, the segment division is performed based on whether the increase or decrease is monotonic in the Y-axis direction. That is, starting from the upper end point (P1), the short vectors V1 to V6 are monotonically decreasing segments, the short vectors V7 to V8 are monotonically increasing segments, and the short vectors V9 to V10 are monotonically decreasing segments, and further the short vector V11. ~ V14 is a monotonically increasing segment.

Next, the control block system will be described more specifically. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the control system,
A computer 2 is configured with a CPU 1 as a core. CPU1
Is a font ROM 3 that stores outline font data of characters such as characters, and a program R that stores programs such as the above-described segment processing.
An OM 4, a RAM 5 in which various memory areas are set, a character generator 6 that develops a dot font from an outline font are connected, and an input device 7 such as a keyboard outputs an output from a monitor 9 or a printer 10 via an input interface 8. The device is connected to the CPU 1 and the like via the output interface 11. In addition to the work memory 5a, the RAM 5 includes an ascending / descending flag memory 5b for setting an ascending / descending flag indicating whether each short vector is rising or falling in the Y coordinate direction when a segment is generated. Necessary memory areas such as a segment registration memory 5c for registering a segment and a clipping area memory 5d for taking in a target area such as clipping are secured.

Next, an example of segment division processing will be described with reference to FIG. Step S1 (hereinafter, simply S1
It is determined whether all contour lines (loops) of the target character (hereinafter, simply referred to as a character) have been checked. In S2, the up / down flag is initialized (initialization of the up / down flag memory 5b in FIG. 3).
Is performed and the first point (for example, P in FIG.
Register the Y coordinate of 1) and the address of the memory in which the coordinate is stored. Then, after passing through S3, in S4, the Y coordinate of the next point (for example, P2 in FIG. 2A) is taken in, and in S5, whether the Y coordinate of this point is larger than the Y coordinate of the immediately preceding point (during rising). To be judged. If it is determined that the vehicle is rising, step S7 is executed. If it is determined that the vehicle is descending as shown by P1 → P2 in FIG. 2, step S6 is executed.

FIG. 5 specifically shows the contents of the routine of S6, and in response to the case where the determination of S5 of FIG. 4 is NO (descent), the determination of Sa1 and Sa2 of FIG. 5 is performed. Here, “before” means the immediately preceding short vector. Therefore, for example, in FIG. 2 (a), if the process of P2 is currently performed, there is no short vector before this, so that Sa1 and Sa2 are both NO determinations, and in this case, Sa4 is descending. Set the flag.

Further, in FIG. 2A, if it is assumed that the point P10 is processed, for example, the short vector V8 before that is rising, which means that the short vector V8 has changed from rising to falling at P9. In such a case, after going through Sa2, Sa3
The flag is set while descending with. Then, in Sa5, the Y coordinate of the peak (top) (for example, the Y coordinate of the point P9 in the example of FIG. 2A), the descending mark, and the address of the memory in which the Y coordinate is stored are registered. Note that, for example, in FIG.
Assuming the point P3 in (a), the determination of "Is it descending before that?" In Sa1 in Fig. 5 is YES, and the process returns to S3 in Fig. 4 by return.

As shown in FIG. 6, the routine of S7 has the opposite relationship to that of FIG. 5, and in the initial case, NO in Sb1 and Sb2.
The flag is set during the ascending for the first time in Sb4 after the judgment of. Further, for example, in the case of P13 in FIG.
Since it is determined that the increase is occurring before that in 1 as well, S in FIG.
Return to 3. Further, assuming, for example, the point P8 in FIG. 2A, since the point before (short vector V6) is descending, it means that it has changed from descending to ascending, and the flag is set during ascending in Sb3. At Sb5, peak (valley bottom)
The Y coordinate (for example, the Y coordinate of P7), the rising mark, and the address of the memory storing the Y coordinate are registered. If it is determined in S3 in FIG. 4 that all the short vectors have been checked, the segment registration (C) routine is executed in S8, and if it is determined in S1 that all the contour lines have been checked, the processing proceeds. Ends. In addition, all contour lines are judged in one closed loop unit,
For example, in the case of "P" in FIG. 12, there are a total of two contour lines inside and outside.

In the above, the registration data up to this point is
For example, it is as conceptually shown in FIG. In the registration of the Y coordinate, the Y coordinate of the start point, the first peak Y coordinate, the second peak Y coordinate, ... Are registered. Figure 2 now
If P1 in (a) is used as the starting point, the first peak Y coordinate in the counterclockwise direction is the P7 point Y coordinate, and the No. 2 peak Y coordinate is P9.
The Y coordinate of the point and the third Y coordinate of the peak become the Y coordinate of the P11 point. Then, for example, the rising mark attached corresponding to the Y coordinate of the first peak means that the Y mark continues to decrease monotonically until the Y coordinate of the first peak, and here, the rising mark turns to rising. Further, in FIG. 7, the descending mark corresponding to the second Y coordinate of the peak means that the monotonous increase continues up to the second Y coordinate of the peak, where it has changed from the ascending to the descending. As for the address, the address storing the Y coordinate of the first, second, etc. peak points from the start point is registered. As described above, such data is attached to each contour line (loop). It should be noted that the rising / falling marks attached to the Y-coordinates of each peak should be placed on the basis of the point before the peak (for example, P7 point in FIG.
It is also possible to end the monotonically decreasing end (with a descending mark at the first peak Y coordinate), in which case the ascending / descending mark relationship (definition) is reversed.

Then, segment data is created and registered based on the data thus obtained for each contour line. Hereinafter, a specific description will be given based on the segment registration routine (C) of FIG. First, in Sc1, the Y coordinate of the first set (start point) and its address are taken out (A). For example, in the example of FIG. 2, the point P1 is the target.
Then, the process proceeds to Sc3 via Sc2 to acquire the next set of data (B). In the example of FIG. 2, the next set of data is for point P7. Then, in Sc4, it is judged which of the rising and falling marks is given to the above (B), and if it is a rising mark, it means that this peak Y coordinate is the bottom of the valley. Coordinates and addresses,
The segment is registered as a segment in the order of the Y coordinate and the address in (B). Then, in Sc7, the contents of the data (A) are updated by the data (B), and the process returns to Sc2.

If it is determined that the mark is a descending mark in Sc4,
This peak Y coordinate means that it is the summit, and in Sc6, the Y coordinate and address of (B) and the Y coordinate and address of (A) are registered as segments in this order. This is to register the Y coordinate in order from the largest to the smallest, and the data of the two sets of points registered as the segment must always have the first Y coordinate as the Y point of the second point.
Registered to be larger than the coordinates. By registering the segments as described above, the coordinate information of the start end and the end of each segment is registered.

Next, the flow of determining the effective segment will be described with reference to FIG. For example, as shown in FIG.
When a part of "a" is set as the clipping target area C, which of the registered segments is involved in the clipping target area C (whether the dot expansion of the clipping target area C is necessary) Will be judged. First, if a conceptual explanation is given, as shown in FIG. 10, the segment and are not necessary, and only the segment and are necessary (involved). In this way, to determine whether the segment is a valid segment for the clipping target area C, the Y coordinate of the start or end of each segment
SegMinY or SegMaxY and Y of the clipping target area C
It suffices to look at the magnitude relationship with the maximum value nMaxY or the minimum value nMinY of the coordinates. For example, the minimum value of the segment SegMinY (P7
Y coordinate) is larger than the maximum Y coordinate nMaxY of the clipping target area C, and this segment can be excluded as a valid segment. The same applies to the segments.

The flow of such processing is specifically shown in FIG. In S11, the first Y coordinate of the segment (for example, the Y coordinate of P1 of the segment in FIG. 10) is set to SegMa described above.
Substitute for xY, the second Y coordinate of the segment (eg P7
(Y coordinate of) is substituted into SegMinY. In S12, SegMinY of the segment thus substituted (for example, P in FIG. 10).
7) is larger than the maximum Y coordinate nMaxY of the clipping target area C, or whether SegMaxY is smaller than the minimum Y coordinate nMinY of the clipping area. If so, the segment is deleted from the registration as unnecessary in S13, the segment determined to be valid is left as it is, and the process proceeds to S14 to check the next segment. In this way, it is determined whether or not the segment is a valid segment, and if the checking of all the segments is completed in S10, this routine is also completed. Then, only valid segment registrations remain.

Now, in FIG. 10, if it is judged whether or not each of the short vectors V1 to V14 is valid, judgment processing of 14 times is required. However, if judgment is made in segment units, judgment processing of 4 times is sufficient. High-speed processing is realized. Then, after the effective segment is extracted in this way, dot font development is performed on the character generator 6 of FIG. 3, for example, as shown in FIG. In S20 of FIG. 11, dot font data is generated by obtaining the intersections of the short vector belonging to the effective segment and the virtual lattice points, and in S21, the dots of the portion that does not overlap the clipping target area are excluded. As a result, target dot font data of the clipping target area is obtained.

The above is an example with clipping.
Even in the case of printing one character by enlarging it so as to straddle two sheets of printing paper, the processing with the above-described segment introduced is effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart conceptually showing the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the concept of segments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a control system.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of segment division processing.

5 is a flowchart showing a routine of S6 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a routine of S7 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram conceptually showing an example of a registration method of each segment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a routine of S8 of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing of determining an effective segment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of clipping.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of developing a dot font using valid segments.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing another example of a character.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 computers 3 font ROM 4 Program ROM 5 RAM 6 character generator

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A dot for displaying the character by specifying the outline of the character with data of an outline font formed by a series of individual short vectors, and obtaining an intersection between the short vector and a virtual grid line. In a character data generator for obtaining font data, a plurality of sets of a suitable number of continuous segments of the individual short vectors are set, whereby the entire outline of the character is smaller than the number of short vectors. Segment dividing means for dividing the segment into the segments, effective segment determining means for determining whether each segment is involved in the dot font data to be displayed, and excluding the segment determined not to be involved, Only the judged segment A character data generating device, comprising: dot conversion means for obtaining an intersection of the short vector belonging to the segment and the grid line to generate data of the dot font to be displayed. 2. The segment dividing means, when dividing the whole of the short vector corresponding to the contour of the character into the plurality of sets of segments, a series of short vectors that monotonically decreases in the coordinate reference direction of the short vector. Or a continuous combination of monotonically increasing short vectors is set in the series of segments, while the point at which a monotonous decrease changes to an increase or the point at which a monotonic increase changes to a decrease becomes the start point of the next segment. The character data generator according to claim 1. 3. A segment registration means for registering data in the coordinate system of a plurality of sets of the segment obtained by the segment division means, and a clipping area capture for capturing a clipping area as an area to be partially displayed by the character. Means, the effective segment determination means, based on comparing the coordinate data of the clipping region and the coordinate data of each segment registered in the segment registration means,
The determination process is performed for each segment.
Alternatively, the character data generator described in 2.