JPH0419791A - Information processor equipped with character pattern generating function using outline font - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable fast character development processing and to improve the throughput of the system by buffering data on character patterns of the outline font which is generated once by using a temporary storage area provided to a storage device such as a RAM. CONSTITUTION:When one character is developed with an optional outline font, the pattern of the character is developed with information on the outline font stored in a storage means such as a ROM 15 or an auxiliary storage means such as an HDD 14 or FDD for the first time, the pattern data is stored in the temporary storage area 13, and index information on the position information, etc., in the temporary storage area 13 is stored in an index information storage area 12. Then the pattern stored in the temporary storage area 12 is outputted for the 2nd and succeeding times according to the index information stored in the index information storage area 12. Consequently, the development time is omitted to enable the fast processing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to the improvement of word processors, personal computers, DTP (desk top publishing), and other information processing devices equipped with character pattern generation functions using various outline fonts. In particular, when developing outline font characters formed by vector data, that is, developing outline font data to create an outline pattern for each character, the created outline font characters are stored in advance in a storage means such as a RAM. This information processing device stores and retains data as long as the capacity of a set temporary storage area allows, and retrieves data from this temporary storage area from the next time onward, thereby omitting deployment time and thereby enabling high-speed processing.

Traditionally, many word processors, DTP, and other various information processing systems have been equipped with a function to generate character patterns using outline fonts.

However, with outline font characters, each time a desired character is output, the outline font information (outline font data) that forms the outline of that character is
Since it is necessary to expand sequentially, the processing time is longer than normal character expansion processing, which is disadvantageous in that the processing efficiency of the system is reduced.

Here, the main structure of an information processing apparatus equipped with a conventional character processing function and a character pattern generation function using an outline font will be described.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram showing an example of the configuration of essential parts of an information processing apparatus equipped with a character pattern generation function using a conventional outline font. In the drawings, 1 is an input device, 2 is a central processing unit consisting of a CPU, etc.
3 is an auxiliary storage means such as an HDD, 4 is a storage means such as a ROM, 5 is a storage means such as a RAM, 6 is a printing device, and 7 is a display device.

In FIG. 4, the character processing functions are similar to those employed in ordinary word processors, DTPs, and other various information processing apparatuses.

The information processing apparatus equipped with a character pattern generation function using an outline font is as follows.

Generally, outline font information consisting of the coordinates of each connection point is stored in a storage means 4 made up of a ROM etc., an auxiliary storage means 3 made up of an HDD etc., or an auxiliary storage means such as an FDD (not particularly shown). .

Also, when the system starts up, the RAM is transferred from the auxiliary storage means 3 consisting of an HDD or the like, or from the auxiliary storage means 3 such as an FDD.
There is also an information processing system in which the information is transferred to the storage means 5 consisting of a computer, etc., and stored in the storage means 5.

Such outline font information for each character, so-called outline font, is stored in a predetermined area of the storage means 5 made of RAM etc. under the control of the central processing unit 2 made up of a CPU etc. that controls the entire information processing system. Be expanded.

Outline font storage means such as ROM that stores outline font information consisting of the coordinates of each connection point;
Similarly, auxiliary storage means such as HDD or FDD that stores outline font information, storage means such as RAM that stores information used in the system, display device, printing device, input device, central part such as CPLf, etc. An information processing system equipped with a processing device and a character processing function and a character pattern generation function using an outline font, such as a word processor, a personal computer, and a DTP.
etc. have a configuration as shown in FIG.

As described above, in an information processing apparatus equipped with a character pattern generation function using a conventional outline font, when outputting a desired character using outline font data, each target character is sequentially expanded.

However, character expansion processing using an outline font is more complicated than normal character expansion processing, and therefore the processing time is longer, resulting in a reduction in the processing efficiency of the system.

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned inconveniences that occur in information processing devices equipped with the function of generating character patterns using conventional outline fonts. ,
Processing time increases and system processing efficiency decreases.
To resolve this inconvenience, outline font characters created once are stored and retained as long as the capacity of a temporary storage area set in advance in a storage device such as RAM allows, and from next time onwards The main object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that enables high-speed processing by omitting the development time by taking out the information.

Also, when the temporary storage area set in the storage means such as RAM becomes full, the character pattern data stored in the temporary storage area is transferred and copied to the auxiliary storage means such as the HDD. A second object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that can perform buffering much larger than the conventional buffer size by using the information processing device as a new buffer memory.

How to solve the problem This invention firstly includes an outline font storage means such as a ROM that stores outline font information consisting of the coordinates of each connection point;
Similarly, an auxiliary storage means such as HDD or FDD that stores outline font information, a storage means such as RAM that stores information used in the system, a display device, a printing device, an input device, and a central part such as a CPU. In an information processing system having a character processing function and a character pattern generation function using an outline font, the information processing system is provided with a storage means such as the RAM, and stores character patterns developed using the outline font. and an index information storage area that stores index information such as position information of characters expanded in the temporary storage area.

When developing one character using an arbitrary outline font, the first time it is developed into a character pattern using the outline font information stored in the storage means such as the ROM, or the auxiliary storage means such as the HDD or FDD. index information such as position information in the temporary storage area is stored in the index information storage area, and from the second time onwards, the index information is stored in the index information storage area. The pattern stored in the temporary storage area is output based on the index information stored in the temporary storage area.

Second, in the above information processing device, when there is no free space in the temporary storage area provided in advance in the storage means such as RAM, the contents of the temporary storage area are stored in the auxiliary storage means such as HDD or FDD. At the same time, the index information is stored in a predetermined area of the storage means such as the RAM, and from now on, when the target character exists in the auxiliary storage means such as the HDD or FDD, the index information is stored in the storage means such as the RAM or the like. The data is configured to be output from the auxiliary storage means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of an information processing apparatus having a character pattern generation function using an outline font according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of a main part of a character pattern generation section of an information processing apparatus equipped with a character pattern generation function using an outline font according to the present invention. In the drawing, 11 is an outline font expansion device, 12 is an index data storage area, and 128 to 12M are file indexes, respectively.
13 is a buffer RAM, 14 is an HDD, 14a is a file storage area for the outline font characters, 14
b is a storage area for outline font data, and 15 is a ROM.

In this FIG. 1, the buffer RAM 13 is a temporary storage area for storing character patterns developed using an outline font.
=N, a total of (N+1) characters can be stored.

The index data storage area 12 is an index information storage area that stores index information such as position information of characters developed in the file storage area 14a of outline font characters in the buffer RAM 13 and HDD 14. It consists of indexes 12a to 12M, but the buffer RAM
13, and (M+1) pieces are provided for the file storage area 14a of the outline font characters of the HDD 14.

The HDD 14 has a file storage area 14a (file index storage area) for outline font characters and a storage area 14a for outline font data.
b, and are provided.

In the file storage area 14a for outline font characters, files corresponding to the capacity of one buffer RAM 13 are stored with each file number (file number, O
=M).

That is, this outline font data storage area 14b consists of a file having a memory capacity to store a total of (M+1) outline font characters,
Each file can store a total of (N+1) characters in the previous buffer RAM 13. Note that, for example, one of the (M+1) files may be used to transfer data in the buffer RAM 13 when the main power is turned off.

As already mentioned, in the information processing apparatus of the present invention, when the character to be expanded is not yet stored in the buffer RAM 13 or the outline font character file storage area 14a of the HDD 14, that is, at the time of initial expansion, An outline font development device 11 takes out outline font data corresponding to the input character code from a storage area 14b of a ROM 15 or HDD 14 and develops it in a free area of a buffer RAM 13 to create characters of an outline font.

The character pattern of the created outline font is
It is stored and held as it is in the area in the buffer RAM 13, and index information such as information regarding the stored and held position is created, and the corresponding file indexes 12a to 12a in the index data storage area 12 are created.
It is stored in 12M.

At the first expansion, the area in the buffer RAM 15 is used, and when this buffer RAM 13 is full, a total of (N+1) outline font characters are
Each file of outline font characters is transferred to a free area of the file storage area 14a for outline font characters in the HDD 14.

The following FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the format of the index data storage area shown in FIG. 1. In the drawing, IDI is a flag indicating the presence or absence of data, ID2 is a character code, ID3 is a flag indicating the type of storage medium, ID
4 indicates a file number in the storage medium, ID5 indicates a start address, and ID6 indicates data size information.

The index data storage area 12 shown in FIG.
The format is as shown in Figure 2.

Here, the flag IDI indicating the presence or absence of data is LL I II indicating data presence when an expanded character pattern already exists, and II OII indicating no data when there is no expanded character pattern. It is said that

Character code ID2 stores the character code corresponding to the outline font.

Flag ID3 indicating the type of storage medium is 1, for example, RAM.
(13) is set to "O", and HDD (14) is set to 1'1".

File number ID4 on the storage medium is flag ID3
When is "1" (HDD), the file number is stored.

Start address ID5 is RAM (13) or HDD (
The start address of the character pattern data stored in 1-4a) is stored.

Data size information ID6 is RAM (13) or HD
Information on the size of character pattern data stored in D (14a) is stored.

The operation of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, which is equipped with a character pattern generation function using an outline font according to the present invention, is as follows.
It is as follows.

In the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the character pattern of the outline font created twice is stored in the temporary storage area (data N010 to N) provided in the buffer RAM 13.
Alternatively, it is stored in the outline font character file storage area 14a in the HDDI 4.

Therefore, characters that have already been created are read out from the stored storage area and output, and only characters that have not yet been created are newly created.

Therefore, the index data storage area 12 is searched to see if index data with the desired character code and size is stored.

■When index data exists In this case, the flag ID3 indicating the type of storage medium is
If it is “0”, it is RAM (13), if it is “11 ()”, it is H.
It can be determined by DD (14a).

If it is in the RAM (13), the target data is taken out from the buffer RAM using the start address ID5 and transferred to the HDD.
(14a), open the target file with file number ID4, and use its start address ID
5, calculate the address in the file and extract the target data.

■If index data does not exist In this case,
It is necessary to create a new one.

In the index data storage area 12, files in which index number No. O=N is one unit are stored in file index No. 0 to M in file indexes 128 to 12M, respectively.

Therefore, the flag IDI indicating the presence or absence of data is searched to determine whether there is space in the file index where the current index pointer exists.

■When there is an empty index In this case, operate the outline font expansion device 11 to expand one character, store it at the position indicated by the address in the index data indicated by the index pointer, and set the flag IDI indicating the presence or absence of data. Set to 1″.

Move the index pointer to the next position.

(1) When there is no free index In this case, the character pattern data of the full buffer RAM 13 is transferred and written to the file storage area 14a of the free area (free index) of )(DD 14), and the buffer It is necessary to create a free area in RAM13.

For this purpose, index data storage area 1 in Fig.
2, check whether there is a free area in the file storage area 14a of the HDD 14, and open the file with the file index number (file N000 to M) corresponding to the free area. , writes data in the buffer RAM 13.

At the same time, the corresponding file index 128~12M
For the inside, set the flag IDI to 711 to indicate the presence or absence of data.
11, and the file number (ID4 in Figure 2),
Write the number (files N000 to M).

Note that since the index pointer indicates the beginning of the primary file index, the subsequent processing is the same as in the case where there is a free area.

Next, the information processing apparatus of the present invention will be explained with reference to a flowchart.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the main processing flow when outputting a character pattern based on outline font data in the information processing apparatus of the present invention. In the drawings, #1 to #11 indicate steps.

In step #1, the index data in the index data storage area 12 of FIG. 1 is searched to find out whether index data with the desired character code and size exists.

In step #2, select the desired character code (ID2 in Figure 2)
, determine whether an index storing data of size (ID6 in FIG. 2) exists, and if so, proceed to the next step! : Go to 3.

In step 3, a flag indicating the type of storage medium (I
D3), and if it is RAM, proceed to the next step #5 and transfer the target data to buffer RAM1 according to the address in the index data (ID5 in Figure 2).
3, and the flow of FIG. 3 is completed.

Furthermore, as a result of the judgment in step #3, if the storage medium in which the data of the target character exists is the HDD 14, the process proceeds to the next step #4, and the file number (
The target file is opened using ID4 in FIG. 2, the position within the file is calculated based on the information on the address (ID5 in FIG. 2), the target data is extracted, and the flow in FIG. 3 is ended.

On the other hand, if it is determined in the previous step #2 that data of the desired character coat and size does not exist, the process advances to the next step=6.

In this case, since there is no character pattern that has already been created, a new character pattern is created using the outline font data.

In step #6, a search is made to see if there is a flag (IDI in FIG. 2) indicating whether there is data in file units in the index data storage area 12 in FIG. 1 (IDI in FIG. 2), indicating that there is currently no data done by.

If it is determined in step #6 that there is an empty index, the process advances to step #10.

In step #10, the outline font development device 11 shown in FIG. 1 is operated to develop one character.

In step #11, the expanded character pattern is written at the position indicated by the address (ID5 in Figure 2) in the index data pointed to by the index pointer, and a flag (
IDI in FIG. 2 is set to N 1 +1, the index pointer is moved to the next index position in preparation for the next write, and the flow in FIG. 3 is ended.

Further, in the judgment in step #6 above, if there is no 'O' indicating that there is no data, as a result of the judgment based on the flag (IDI in FIG. 2) indicating the presence or absence of data.

Proceeding to step #7, the index data of the file corresponding to the file index number (file No., O''M) of the transfer destination is rewritten, and in the next step #8, data in the buffer RAM 13 is written to the target file.

In step #9, in order to make the target file the next file, the file pointer is made the next file index.

The processing from steps #7 to #9 is performed when there is no created character pattern data and the buffer RAM 13
This is a process of transferring data to the outline font character file storage area 14a provided in the HDD 14 in order to provide a free area in the buffer RAM 13 when there is no free area in the buffer RAM 13.

Thereafter, the process advances to step slo, where one character is expanded and written to the buffer RAM 13 by the same process as when there is a free area in the previous file, and the index data is transferred to the index data storage area 12 in FIG. The data is written to the corresponding area in the file indexes 12a to 12M, and the flow shown in FIG. 3 is completed.

Through the processing of steps #1 to #11 above, in the information processing apparatus of the present invention, if a character developed using an outline font (characters of the same size) has already been created, the data of the target character exists. Since the data can be immediately taken out from the buffer RAM 13 or the file storage area 14a of the HDD 14, faster output is possible than in the conventional sequential expansion method.

In addition, in the conventional buffering concept, when a temporary storage area provided in advance in a storage means such as a RAM becomes full, it is common to deal with this by rewriting an arbitrary part with a new character. In this method, the number of characters that always exist is limited to a small number.

However, in the information processing apparatus of the present invention, character pattern data in the full buffer RAM is copied file by file to the file storage area 14a in the HDD 14, which is an auxiliary storage device, and the data is stored in the HDD 14. Since the area 14a is used as a new buffer, it is possible to perform buffering much larger than the conventional buffer size (memory capacity of the temporary storage area provided in the buffer RAM).

In this way, a large amount of data can be stored by forming character pattern data in the buffer RAM 13, that is, data for a certain number of characters into blocks and registering them in the file storage area 14a in the HDD 14.

Note that the outline font character file storage area 14a (index data storage area 1) of the HDD 14
The area managed by the index data in the file indexes 12a to 12M of No. 2, in which data of outline font character patterns is stored for each file, is used up, and the file index number r
O” M J If there is no space left, the index may not be updated from next time even if the target character does not exist in the index data, and the characters may be expanded each time. However, it is also possible to secure a free area by deleting unnecessary character pattern data in the temporary storage area in the buffer RAM 2S or by deleting data in the file storage area 14a in units of files.

Further, in the embodiment shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, control is performed so that all character pattern data of an outline font created each time is stored and retained.

However, if it is clear that a character with that character code and size is a special character and is rarely used in other parts, the outline font you created It goes without saying that it is possible to select and control the character pattern data such that it is not stored.

In short, the information processing device of the present invention stores character pattern data of an outline font created once in a RAM.
The invention is characterized in that it is stored and saved in a temporary storage area provided in a storage device such as, and retrieved when necessary (the invention set forth in claim 1).

In addition, by transferring and copying to an auxiliary storage device such as an HDD, a temporary storage area with a larger capacity than that provided in a storage device such as RAM can be secured, and many character patterns can be stored. The second feature is that data is stored and saved and retrieved as needed (invention of claim 2).

The information processing device of this invention buffers the character pattern data of an outline font created once using a temporary storage area provided in a storage device such as a RAM. Since it is memorized and retained, there is no need to expand the characters each time as in the past.

As a result, character expansion can be processed at high speed,
The processing efficiency of the system is improved (Claim 1)
(effect corresponding to the invention in paragraph).

Furthermore, character pattern data for a certain number of characters is divided into blocks and registered in an auxiliary storage device such as an HDD, so that more character pattern data can be stored. Effects corresponding to the invention in Item 2), and many other excellent effects can be achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the main structure of a character pattern generation section of an information processing apparatus equipped with a character pattern generation function using an outline font according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the main processing flow when outputting characters using outline font data in the information processing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the format of the index data storage area shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of main parts of an information processing device equipped with a character pattern generation function using a conventional outline font. In the drawing, 11 is an outline font development device;
12 is an index data storage area, 12a to 12
M is each file index, 13 is buffer R
AM, 14 is a HDD, 14a is a file storage area for the outline font characters, 14b is a storage area for outline font data, and 15 is a ROM. C

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Outline font storage means such as ROM that stores outline font information consisting of the coordinates of each connection point, and an HD that also stores outline font information.
It is equipped with auxiliary storage means such as D or FDD, storage means such as RAM for storing information used in the system, a display device, a printing device, an input device, and a central processing unit such as a CPU. In an information processing system equipped with a processing function and a character pattern generation function using an outline font, a temporary storage area provided in advance in the storage means such as the RAM and storing character patterns developed using the outline font; an index information storage area for storing index information such as position information of characters developed in the temporary storage area; Developed into a character pattern based on outline font information stored in a storage means, an auxiliary storage means such as an HDD or an FDD, and stored in the temporary storage area, and
Index information such as position information in the temporary storage area is stored in the index information storage area, and from the second time onwards, the index information stored in the index information storage area is stored in the temporary storage area. An information processing device characterized by outputting a pattern. 2. In the information processing device according to claim 1, when there is no free space in the temporary storage area provided in advance in the storage means such as RAM, the contents of the temporary storage area are stored in the HDD, FDD, etc. At the same time, the index information is stored in a predetermined area of the storage means such as the RAM, and thereafter when the target character exists in the auxiliary storage means such as the HDD or FDD, The HDD or FD
An information processing device characterized by outputting from auxiliary storage means such as D.