JP3437293B2 - Character output method and character processing device - 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 processing device for outputting a character pattern in accordance with a character generation request from a host computer, and more particularly to a character output method and a character processing having an outline font and a dot font for high speed output. It relates to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an outline font has become the mainstream as a font for creating a corresponding character pattern from character code data. The features of outline fonts are the ease and clarity of character pattern processing, but the time required to generate a character pattern is longer than when a font using a dot pattern is adopted. For this reason, a dot font of a character size that would be often used was provided with an outline font to speed up the process. Furthermore, the character pattern used once is registered in the cache memory in the state of being expanded into a dot pattern, and when the same code is input again, the character pattern expanded into a dot pattern is read from the cache memory. , It saved the time to develop the character pattern.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since there is no dot font of a size that exactly matches the specified size, it is not used, and therefore, when the specified size unit and the comparison judgment size are different, unit conversion is performed. In many cases, dot fonts were not used because there was a calculation error in the processing after the decimal point of and there was a calculation error in the process of converting the coordinate size from the screen display in the application software. That is, the dot font was not effectively used.

The present invention provides a character processing device which eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, enables effective use of dot fonts, and achieves high-speed and high-quality character output. Furthermore, a character output method and a character processing device that enable effective use of the cache area are provided.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the character output method of the present invention is an outline font.
In the character output method that uses
A comparison process that compares the specified character size with the character size of the dot font, and the comparison result is within the allowable range.
And when set to one font, the allowable range of dots
The font pattern is output and the comparison result is within the allowable range.
It is specified in the
If there is no character pitch or character size dot font,
If there is a dot font with a fixed character pitch, the specified statement
Out to output the dot font of the pattern close to the character size
And a force step .

Here, the method further comprises the step of designating the allowable range. Also uses more font cache memory
To a character output method, in the output step, out
When a line font is selected, if there is a dot pattern that does not match the specified size in the font cache memory but is within the allowable range, it is output using the dot pattern in the font cache memory. Also,
A draft mode is provided by increasing the allowable range.

Further, the character processing device of the present invention is a character processing device having character patterns of an outline font and a dot font, and a comparison means for comparing a specified character size with the character size of the dot font. The result is within the allowable range and the
Output a dot font pattern within the allowable range,
The result of comparison is within the allowable range, and it is set to one font.
If the time is not enough, do not use the specified character pitch and character size.
Dot Phone with a specified character pitch
Output means for outputting a pattern of a dot font close to the designated character size when there is a font.

Here, there is further provided a designation means for designating the allowable range. In addition, the font cache memory, A
When an outline font is selected, if there is a dot pattern that does not match the specified size in the font cache memory but is within the allowable range, a means for outputting using the dot pattern in the font cache memory is further provided. Prepare Further, the draft mode is set by increasing the allowable range.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) <Example of device configuration> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a printing device.

In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a printing apparatus according to the first embodiment, which forms a printing result 200. Thirty
Reference numeral 0 is a host computer that outputs print data. In the printing apparatus 100, C that controls the entire printing apparatus is provided.
There is a PU 101, which includes RAM and ROM.
The data from the host computer 300 is temporarily stored in the reception buffer 108. Reference numeral 102 is a font memory that stores outline font data, and 103 is a font table that has a built-in font attribute and a pointer to a pattern as a table. Reference numeral 104 is a page buffer memory for storing received data, 105 is a bit map memory for expanding image data for one page, and 107 is a bit map memory 105.
This is a printer engine unit that actually performs a printing process based on the image data expanded in.

<Configuration Example of Font Table> FIG. 2 is a detailed view of the font table 103. Font information including attributes of names and sizes and pitches of all fonts possessed by the printing apparatus 100 and pattern data. And a flag indicating whether or not each font is designated. Font selection is shown in Figure 2.
This is done by comparing the information in the font table of (1) with the specified attributes and selecting the font to be output.

<Example of font name selection procedure> The name selection procedure will be described below. Character set name (eg Mincho.J
78) is specified, the name in the table and the part of the specified character set name excluding the extension (Mincho) are compared from the back of the table, and if they are the same, the name extension Graphic set number (J78 → C
It is determined from the GS term in FIG. 2 whether or not 0) is supported. If yes, determine; if not, compare with next row in table. In the case of a dot font, printing is possible if the name is decided, but in the case of a scalable font, it is necessary to further specify the pitch and size. The value of each attribute of the character set selected by the name is set in an attribute table (not shown) for selection, and after the pitch and size are specified, the attribute table is referred to perform attribute selection.

<Example of Conventional Font Attribute Selection Procedure> FIG.
6 is a flowchart for explaining a font attribute selection processing procedure of the CPU 101 in the conventional example. Less than,
The conventional procedure for selecting an attribute will be described below with reference to this flowchart. In attribute selection, when a font attribute instruction comes in by command and panel setting, not only the specified attribute but also the other attributes set in the attribute table for selection at that time are included in the font selection. Perform search processing.

First, in step S1, flags of all fonts in the font table are set (initialized). Next, after clearing all the flags of fonts other than the graphic set designated in step S2, step S2
In step 3, it is checked whether the number of flagged fonts is one. If the number is one, the selection process is terminated and printing is performed using that font. Also, if the flagged fonts are gone,
In step S4, the font flag of the currently set graphic set is set, taking over the selection rule of the graphic set.

If there are a plurality of fonts for which the flag is set, the process proceeds to step S5, the flags of fonts other than the designated character pitch are cleared, and as in the case of the graphic set, In step S6, the number of remaining fonts is checked, and if there is one, it is determined and ended. When a plurality of attributes remain, the process proceeds to the next attribute.

Thereafter, the same processing is performed for the character size, style, stroke weight, typeface, and subtypeface. If the number cannot be reduced to one until the end, step S
At 23, the last font in which the flag in the font table is set is selected. Here, in the conventional processing, the pitch and the size are also compared, and when the character set of the table to be compared is a scalable font, the pitch and the size are unconditionally matched, and the following is set without limitation. Perform attribute comparison.

The unit of the pitch and size on the table when the character set used for printing is selected according to the above-mentioned attribute selection procedure is pitch = [cpi × 100],
Size = [1/72 inch x 100] = [point x 1
00]. The pitch does not need to be converted because the designated unit and the comparison unit are the same. Regarding the size, the designated size is converted into this size unit and comparison is performed. In this case, if there is a dot font with a size of 10 points, the actual size of the character pattern is 42 dots, and if the size unit specified by the user is dots (300 dpi), the dot unit is calculated as follows. Therefore, it is impossible to specify exactly 10 points x 100.

42 dots = 300 dpi × X points × (1/72) X points ≈42 dots × 72/300 dpi ≈10.08 points ≠ 10.00 points Thus, a character set having a size of 42 dots in an environment of 300 dpi If is specified in dot units, the dot font is not selected for calculation, and the scalable font is selected.

As a similar calculation error at the time of conversion, in the application of the host computer which issues a command,
When you issue a command by calculating the character size from the coordinates of the screen display, you have specified a fine calculation value with a value below the decimal point, and because of processing such as rounding up and down, the dot font is not selected and is scalable. Sometimes fonts were chosen, which hindered speeding up. Also, if there is a difference of 1 dot in dot units due to the difference in the processing after the decimal point, it cannot be said that the size is selected and it is not out of the requirement. It is clear that the one with a dot font can print faster.

<Procedure example of font attribute selection according to the present embodiment>
In the character processing device according to the first embodiment, the unit of pitch and size comparison is [dot × 10] unit, and the allowable range of selection from the panel can be specified in 1/10 dot unit. Enable effective use,
It enables high-speed output. Below, the comparison unit is [dot x
10] units and the comparison procedure when the allowable range is 9 [1/10 dots] on the panel will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the font attribute selection processing procedure of the CPU 101 of the first embodiment. First, in step S101, the flags of all fonts in the font table shown in FIG. 2 are set. Then, after clearing all the flags of the fonts other than the graphic set designated in step S102, it is checked in step S103 whether there is only one flagged font. 1 font with flag
If it is found to be the same, the selection process is terminated and printing is performed using that font. If there is no font for which the flag is set, the font flag of the currently set graphic set is set in step S104 according to the graphic set selection rule.

If a plurality of fonts for which flags are set remain, the process proceeds to step S105, the designated character pitch is converted into a unit of [dot × 10], and the allowable range designated on the panel is designated in advance. Considering the allowable range specified by the means, for example, the specified pitch is 7.2c
When 9 [1/10 dot] is designated by pi, conversion is performed in units of [dot × 10], and 416.66 ... ≠
417 [dots × 10] and 417-4 = 413 [dots × 10] to 417 + 4 = 421 [dots × 1]
0] range, the flags of fonts other than the range are cleared, the number of remaining fonts is checked in step S106 as in the case of the graphic set, and if there is one, it is determined and ended, and if there is not one, step S107. Then, the processing is performed according to the selection criteria of the attribute, and if there are more flags set, the process proceeds to the processing of the next attribute.

In step S108, the character size is similarly converted into a unit of [dot × 10], and the comparison is made including the allowable range specified on the panel. Then, the style, stroke weight, typeface, and subtypeface are compared with step S124. Up to step S21 of FIG. 3, the same processing is performed. And
If the number of flags that have been set is not narrowed down to one even after the end of step S121, the pitch / size processing described later is performed in step S123, and still 1 is set.
If it is not possible to narrow down to one font, select the last font with the flag set in the font table.

Next, the pitch of step S123
The details of the size processing will be described with reference to the flowchart showing the details of the pitch size processing of step S123 in the attribute selection processing of FIG. In step S201 of FIG. 5, the character set is limited to the dot font character set, and it is checked whether or not there is a character set that exactly matches the specified pitch and size. If there is, a character other than that character set is determined in step S203. Clear the set flags. But,
If there is no character set that exactly matches the specified character pitch / size, it is checked in step S204 whether there is a dot font character set that exactly matches the specified pitch, and if there is, a pitch other than that is determined in step S206. The flag of the character set is deleted, and the flag of the character set other than the character set whose character size is the closest to the designated size is deleted from the character sets in which the flag is set.

By selecting the character set used for printing in accordance with the procedure described above, higher speed printing becomes possible. It is needless to say that the comparison unit and the allowable range used in the description can be specified in other units and sizes. Further, although the description has been given separately for the pitch and the size, even if it is applied to either one, a certain effect can be obtained.

(Second Embodiment) In the first embodiment, an example of comparing and selecting in character set units has been described. In the present embodiment, the procedure for using the characters expanded in the font cache will be described below. To do. Traditionally, when using the character set in the font cache, the pitch and size must be exactly the same as those specified by dots. A pattern of a size different by 1 dot was developed and stored in the cache memory. The second embodiment including the cache structure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

<Configuration Example of Apparatus> FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the configuration diagram of FIG. 6, a font cache memory 106 is added to the device configuration of FIG. 1 in the first embodiment. In FIG. 6, 1
Reference numeral 00 denotes the printing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment, and print result 20
It forms 0. A host computer 300 outputs print data. In the printing apparatus 100, there is a CPU 101 that controls the entire printing apparatus, and RA
Includes M and ROM.

The data from the host computer 300 is temporarily stored in the reception buffer. 102 is a font memory for storing outline font data, 1
Reference numeral 03 is a font table which has a built-in font attribute and a pointer to a pattern as a table. 104 is a page buffer memory for storing received data, 105 is a bitmap memory for expanding image data for one page, 106 is a bitmap pattern of a scalable font expanded once, and the same character pattern is expanded. It is a font cache memory that is managed and configured so that it can output character patterns without using it. Reference numeral 107 denotes a printer engine unit that actually performs print processing based on the image data expanded in the bitmap memory 105.

<Configuration Example of Font Cache Memory> The font cache memory 106 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 shows the font cache memory 10.
6, the pointer 401 for 128 character sets, a storage area 402 for the pitch of each character set, and a storage area 403 for the size are provided in the management table 400 at the top of the font cache memory 106. ,
Further, there is a pointer storage area 404 for the pointer to the pattern, and -1 is stored in the pointer 401 when there is no pattern data. The pointer 404 to the pattern box has a pointer 404 to the character pattern box corresponding to the upper 1 byte (section) of each character code, and the lower 1 byte (dot ) Is a pointer to a character pattern. When there is nothing ahead of these pointers, -1 is stored.

<Example of selection procedure of font cache pattern> The selection procedure of the character pattern in the font cache is performed when a scalable font is selected and printed.
Whether the character set to be printed has already been expanded is compared by comparing the character set in the attribute table (not shown) for printing, the character pitch, and the character size with the information in the management table. If the dot is on the management table, the dot pattern of the management table is followed by a three-step pointer, and the pattern is taken out and printed.

When searching for this character set, the pitch and size are compared and judged in consideration of the allowable range specified in advance on the panel. For example, when 1 dot is specified, an attribute for printing. When the dot size on the table is searched in the range of -1 to +1 and there is a character set that is not exactly right and is within the allowable range, the attribute table for printing is set to the size in the font cache memory management table. Rewrite, for the code that already has the dot pattern in the font cache memory, print using that pattern, and for the code that does not have the pattern,
A new dot pattern is developed from the scalable information and registered in the font cache.

As described above, by effectively using the patterns already registered in the font cache memory, the memory can be effectively used and the printing speed can be increased. By increasing the allowable range designated in advance on the panel, the character pattern can be printed at high speed using a dot font.
According to this method, a high-speed draft mode can be achieved without providing new means for draft characters.

The present invention may be applied to either a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention,
If it is a dot font with the specified character pitch,
By providing a function to output the dot font if the size of the dot font is within the allowable range for the specified character size, it is possible to effectively use the dot font and achieve high-speed and high-quality character output. . Further, it is possible to effectively use the cache area.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing apparatus for explaining a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing details of a font table for explaining the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a conventional font attribute selection process.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating font attribute selection processing according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of pitch / size processing in font attribute selection processing according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a detailed diagram of a font cache memory according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 printer 101 CPU 102 font memory 103 font table 105 bitmap memory 106 font cache memory 107 printer engine section 108 Receive buffer 200 print results 300 host computer 400 management table 401 Pointer to character set 402 pitch storage area 403 size storage area 404 Pointer to pattern box

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) Reference JP-A-3-266661 (JP, A) JP-A-64-10295 (JP, A) JP-A-2-22076 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 22078 (JP, A) JP 2-55163 (JP, A) JP 6-91956 (JP, A) JP 6-266339 (JP, A) JP 6-325035 (JP, A) Patent 3177080 (JP, B2) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G09G 5/22-5/32 G06F 17/21

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. Outline font and dot font
In the character output method using and, the comparison step of comparing the specified character size with the character size of the dot font, and the result of comparison is within the allowable range
Outputs a dot font pattern within the allowable range when maru
However, the result of comparison is within the allowable range, and one font
If not specified, the specified character pitch and character size
There is no dot font for the
An output step of outputting a dot font pattern close to a specified character size when there is a font. 2. The character output method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of designating the allowable range. 3. The font cache memory is further used.
In the output step, when an outline font is selected, if there is a dot pattern that does not match the size specified in the font cache memory but is within an allowable range, the font cache memory 2. The character output method according to claim 1, wherein the dot pattern is used to output the character. 4. A draft mode is provided by increasing the allowable range.
The character output method described in 3 . 5. A character processing device having a character pattern of an outline font and a dot font, and comparing means for comparing a designated character size with the character size of the dot font, and the comparison result is within an allowable range . Set to one font
Outputs a dot font pattern within the allowable range when maru
However, the result of comparison is within the allowable range, and one font
If not specified, the specified character pitch and character size
There is no dot font for the
If there is Onto character processing apparatus, characterized in that it comprises an output means for outputting a pattern of near have dot font to the designated character size. 6. The character processing device according to claim 5 , further comprising a specifying unit that specifies the allowable range. 7. When the font cache memory and the outline font are selected and there is a dot pattern which does not match the size specified in the font cache memory but is within the allowable range, the dots in the font cache memory The character processing device according to claim 5, further comprising: a means for outputting using a pattern. 8. The method of claim 5 or 7, characterized in that the draft mode by taking larger the allowable range
Character processing device described.