JPH11170656A - Method and apparatus for outputting image - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform plotting process at high speed regardless of the content of a form data. SOLUTION: When a print data is received (S401), instruction thereof is determined. If it is an instruction for generating a form data, a form data is generated as a raster data and stored while being encoded except the character data contained therein (S410). If it is a print instruction, a decision is made whether it is an overlay page (S412) and if the answer is YES, the encoded form data is decoded and written and then a data to be printed is developed thereon (S413) whereas the character in the form data is read out from a font cache and written before being outputted. Character in the form data may be rendered not to be deleted easily from the font chache.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an image output apparatus and method capable of overlaying, for example, normal page data and form data, and more particularly to a printer such as a laser beam printer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general business printing, a fixed form part (such as a title or a frame line) that prints the same contents over a plurality of pages, such as a form or a fixed form document, has a non-standard form that differs from page to page. In many cases, form overlay printing is used, in which fixed data portions (numbers, names, etc., usually called page data) are superimposed and printed.

Therefore, in a conventional page printer which analyzes a page description language and generates a raster image, a fixed form section created in the page description language format is registered in a storage area of the printer as an event-driven macro instruction. Form overlay printing has been realized by automatically executing the macro in response to an event such as a sheet discharging operation. The event driven macro is specified when the macro is designated (1
After the analysis of the normal page data for one page is completed, the registered contents are read out, for example, each time a discharge command is received (second and subsequent times), and the normal page data is analyzed by the page description language analyzing means. And converted into an intermediate code (hereinafter, referred to as a drawing object) for generating a raster image for one page.

In addition, prior to printing, the form data (macro data) is transferred from the host computer to the printer in advance and registered in a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory so that the form data is not transferred every time. It may be configured to be good. In this case, at the time of printing, only an instruction for designating the form data in the flash memory as an event driving macro is sent.

[0005]

However, the above conventional example has the following problems.

That is, when form overlay printing is realized by the event driven macro, form data is registered in a page description language format.
In the case of complex form data, it took time to analyze the form data itself and generate drawing objects. That is, the output of the first page can obtain only the same processing speed as the case of outputting the same contents as normal data without using the overlay, and the more complicated the form contents, the longer the processing time of the form part Was increasing.

When outputting print data using the same form on a plurality of pages, the same macro (command group) is analyzed every page and the same drawing object is generated. There is a problem that the printing speed of the second and subsequent pages is not improved in spite of the page. That is, the same drawing object is
Since each page is generated, a drawing object cannot be shared between a plurality of pages. For this reason, there is a concern that the memory required for the drawing processing of a plurality of pages increases, and that the performance is deteriorated such as the occurrence of a paper discharge waiting. In particular, when overlay output is specified for a complex form including many figures and image images, errors such as insufficient drawing memory are likely to occur, and it has been important to solve the above problem.

One solution to the above problem is to rasterize the form data in advance, hold it as image data (form image) in the printer, and draw it by superimposing it on normal page data. However, a large amount of memory is required to hold an image for one page, which is not practical (A4, 600 dp
i, about 8 MB of monochrome memory is required).

Therefore, encoding (compression) of a form image is conceivable. Packbits compression (encoding an image with attention to byte order continuity) which can be applied to compression of a form image is considered. Since the compression ratio of a pattern including characters is generally not good, when the form data includes a large amount of character data, there is a problem that the compression ratio of the form image is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and does not increase the processing time of the form unit even if the form content is complicated.
Provided is an image output apparatus and method that can improve the printing speed of the second and subsequent pages, do not increase the memory required for drawing processing of a plurality of pages, and do not decrease performance such as waiting for paper discharge. The purpose is to:

[0011]

The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems has the following arrangement. A form storage unit that encodes and stores form data generated as bitmap data that does not include characters; and a form generation unit that generates form data as bitmap data, encodes and stores the form data in the form storage unit. A font cache for storing character data generated as bitmap data, character generating means for generating character data as bitmap data and storing the same in the font cache, and printing the print data by overlaying it with form data. An overlay that decodes the stored encoded form data, renders the character data included in the form data using the bitmap data stored in the font cache, and outputs the print data in a superimposed manner. Image with means Power equipment.

[0012] Alternatively, a form generation step of generating form data that does not include characters as bitmap data, encoding it and storing it in form storage means, and generating a character data as bitmap data and storing it in a font cache When printing the print data by overlaying the form data with the form data, the stored encoded form data is decoded, and the character data included in the form data is converted from the bitmap data stored in the font cache. Draw using
An overlay step of overlaying and outputting the print data.

[0013] Alternatively, form generation means for generating form data containing no characters as raster data, encoding and storing the same in a form storage means, and character generation means for generating character data as bitmap data and storing the same in a font cache When printing and overlaying the print data with the form data, the stored encoded form data is decoded, and the character data included in the form data uses the bitmap data stored in the font cache. A computer-readable memory storing a program for causing a computer to function as an apparatus having an overlay unit for performing drawing and overlaying the print data.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Before describing the configuration of the present embodiment, the configuration of an image processing apparatus suitable for applying the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of an image processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied, for example, a case of a laser beam printer (hereinafter, LBP). The image processing apparatus to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to the LBP, and it goes without saying that a printer apparatus of another printing method may be used.

In FIG. 1, an LBP main body 100 is a host computer (200 in FIG. 2) connected to the outside.
Input and store character information (character code, etc.), graphic information, fixed format data (form data), or other macro instructions supplied in the form of a page description language from. A pattern, a graphic pattern, and the like are created, and an image is formed on a recording paper as a recording medium. The operation panel 112 includes switches for operation, an LED display, and the like. The printer control unit 101 controls the entire LBP 100 and analyzes character information and the like supplied from the host computer. The control unit 101 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 102. The LBP can also register character patterns and form data from a data source (not shown). Similarly, the LBP converts the LBP into a video signal according to print data and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 102. The laser driver 102 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 103. The laser driver 102 operates in accordance with the input video signal.
The laser light 104 emitted from 3 is switched on and off. The laser 104 is swung right and left by a rotary polygon mirror 105 to scan on an electrostatic drum 106. Thus, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 106. This latent image is developed by a developing unit 107 around the electrostatic drum 106 and then transferred to a recording sheet. A cut sheet is used for the recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is stored in a paper cassette 108 mounted on the LBP 100, and a paper feed roller 109 and transport rollers 110 and 111 are used.
And is supplied to the electrostatic drum 106.

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram for explaining a basic configuration (an internal configuration of the control unit 101 of the image processing apparatus of FIG. 1) of the image output apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
For example, a case of a laser beam printer is shown.

Further, as long as the functions of the present invention are executed, a single device or a system in which processing is performed via a network such as a LAN may be used.

In FIG. 1, a printer main body 100 is connected to an external host computer 200 via a predetermined interface 208, and is configured to execute a predetermined printing process in accordance with print data sent from the host computer 200. ing. The print data received from the host computer 200 is stored in the reception buffer 207.
Is temporarily stored as received data.

Form data described in a page description language format is stored in a hard disk or the like of the host computer 200, and each form data is managed in association with information such as a form ID that can be uniquely identified. Have been. Also, when printing form overlays,
The form data is transmitted as a form registration command (event driven macro).

The printer CPU 201 executes a control program 2 stored in a ROM 202 which is a read-only memory.
03 to control the access to various devices connected to the system bus 206 based on the
07 is analyzed to generate a drawing object for at least one page (a drawing object generation unit 203a), and then for one page or one band divided into a plurality of bands based on the drawing object. Is generated (drawing object drawing unit 2).
03c), the printing unit 210 via the printing unit I / F 209
A video signal is output (shipped) to the (printer engine) by turning on / off the bits of the raster image. The printing unit 210 prints an image on the recording paper 211 based on the video signal received from the CPU 201. Here, the drawing object generating unit 203a also includes a font scaler that generates a font pattern corresponding to character data (font, size, character code).

When a memory for storing a raster image is not prepared for one page but at least two bands obtained by dividing a page into bands are prepared (hereinafter referred to as a band raster), generation of the raster image and shipping The operation is performed simultaneously. In other words, a drawing object belonging to the other band raster is drawn while one of the drawn band rasters is being shipped (hereinafter, the above drawing procedure is referred to as drawing by banding).

The control program 203 is composed of a program for realizing the following functions in addition to the above-mentioned configuration.

That is, when the print data in the reception buffer 207 is a form registration command, the form data described in the page description language is registered in a RAM 205 (described later). Overlay registration for reading form data /
A reading unit 203b, a drawing object drawing unit 203c that generates a form raster containing no characters based on the read form data, and generates a font pattern for the character data; and a form memory that stores and holds the form raster in the RAM 205. Registering the font pattern in the font cache storage unit with the management unit 203d,
When the output of the same character data is requested, the font cache management unit 203g that reuses the registered font pattern without using the font scaler, encodes the form raster before storing it, and superimposes the form raster on a normal page. Form compression / decompression unit 20 for decoding before drawing
3f, and a form raster drawing unit 203e that draws the decoded form raster on the page memory 205c by superimposing the form raster on the normal page data.

The form memory management unit 203d
Checks whether the form raster corresponding to the requested form data has been stored in the form raster storage unit 205d, and if it has already been stored, has a cache function using the stored form raster (however, In order to use the generated font cache for the character data of
Read out the form data from 03a). The ROM 202 is also used as a memory for storing font data composed of dot fonts and scalable fonts used for character output (font ROM 204).

The RAM 205 is a RAM that functions as a main memory, a work memory, and the like of the CPU 201, and is configured so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). RAM
Reference numeral 205 denotes a drawing object storage unit 205a (including a font cache registration memory for caching a character pattern developed based on scalable data in the font memory 204) for storing the drawing object, and a control program 203a for temporarily storing the drawing object. A work memory 205e to be used, a page memory 205c for storing a raster image (or a raster image for one page) corresponding to two surfaces of a band area obtained by dividing one page into a band, and a form described in a page description language A form data storage unit 205b for storing data,
A form raster storage unit 205 for encoding and holding a form image obtained by analyzing the form data
In addition to d, it is used for a print environment data storage memory or the like (not shown). The LBP 100 is supplied with power from a power supply unit (not shown). In the above description, the form data is stored in the RAM 205. However, the form data may be stored in a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory in advance.

Although the apparatus constituting the present invention has been described as being supplied as a program stored in a ROM, the present invention is not limited to this. The apparatus is supplied by a medium such as a floppy disk or a hard disk, and is supplied to a RAM or the like before execution. It may be configured to be executed after being loaded. <Overlay Output Processing Procedure> Next, an overlay output processing procedure in the image output apparatus having the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

<Overview of Form Data Registration> FIG. 3 (A)
9 is a flowchart showing an outline of an instruction procedure for generating and registering a form raster when form data is received from the host computer 200.

First, in step S301, when a form registration command is received, form data is registered in the form data storage unit 205b in the printer. here,
The form registration command means a series of commands composed of an overlay registration start command, actual form data, and an overlay registration end command. Subsequently, the form data registered in step S301 is read out (step S302) in accordance with the form generation command, and the form data is analyzed to generate a drawing object including a corresponding one-page font pattern (step S302).
303). The generated font pattern is registered in the font cache, similarly to the character data of the normal page.

Subsequently, a drawing object other than the font object is drawn on the band raster to generate a form raster (step S304). When the generation of the form raster is completed, the form raster is encoded in step S305, the form raster is registered together with information such as a form ID for identifying the form, and the form raster registration processing is completed.

<Overview of Form Overlay Execution> FIG.
(B) is a flowchart showing an outline of a processing procedure when a form overlay execution instruction is received. Note that the registration of the form data shown in FIG.
The reception and processing of the form overlay in (B) may be performed continuously (in the same print job), or only the registration of the form data may be performed first.

In the figure, first, in step S310, it is checked whether or not a form raster corresponding to the form ID specified by the form overlay execution command has been registered (form raster management unit 203d). If it has already been registered, an instruction to draw the form raster is transmitted to the form raster drawing unit 203e (step S3).
12) Simultaneously, only the character data portion of the form data is analyzed to generate a font object (step S313). At this time, the font object is
Since the font cache registered in step S303 of (A) is hit, the scaling process by the scaler is not performed.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S310 that the desired form raster has not been registered, in step S311, all the form data is read, and a drawing object is generated. The generation of the drawing object may be performed in the same manner as when the form raster is registered.

After the processing of the form data is completed as described above, the normal page data of the irregular form part is analyzed, and a drawing object is generated in the same manner as in step S311 (S314).

After processing one page of form data and normal page data, the form part is drawn on the band raster (step S315). That is, if the form raster has been registered, the encoded form raster and the font objects included in the form are drawn, while if not registered, a drawing object group (including font objects) corresponding to the form portion is drawn. Draw on band raster. Finally, the drawing object of the normal page is similarly drawn (step S316), and the execution process of the form overlay ends.

The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 shows a procedure for registering a form and a procedure for executing a form overlay independently for easy understanding. The command received from the host computer is analyzed, and these processes are performed according to the command. The processing procedure including the command analysis is the flowchart shown in FIG.

<Page Object Generation Processing> FIG.
9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for generating and registering a form raster and generating a page object including execution of a form overlay.

Referring to FIG.
Stores the print data sent from the host computer 200 in the reception buffer 207 in step 401. It is checked whether print data exists in the reception buffer 207 (step S402), and if not, the process ends. On the other hand, if the print data exists, the print data is analyzed in the following steps S403 and subsequent steps.
First, in step S403, it is checked whether or not the print data being processed is a discharge command. If it is determined that the print data is not a discharge command, the analysis of the print data is continued in steps S404 and subsequent steps. In step S403, it has been described that a discharge command (form feed command) is checked for simplicity. However, in actuality, when a character print position movement command or the like is performed, a discharge is performed so as to exceed the bottom of the page being printed. In the case of print data that may cause a paper operation, the process similarly proceeds to step S408 and subsequent steps.

In step S404, it is checked whether the print data is an overlay registration start command or overlay registration is being performed. If so, an overlay registration end command is received (step S40).
5) The form data is stored in the form data storage unit 205b.
(Step S406), and read out the subsequent print data from the reception buffer 207 in step S401.
Return to In step S404, in order to determine whether form data is being registered, a flag that is reset to 0 when the power is turned on is prepared, and the flag is set to 1 when the overlay registration start command is received. If the flag is set, it is determined that form data is being registered, and the flag is reset when an overlay registration end command is received (S405).
Alternatively, the size of the form data to be registered as a parameter of the overlay registration start command may be received as a counter, and the form data may be registered until the counter becomes zero. If a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory is provided as the overlay storage unit and the form data is registered in advance before receiving the print data, step S404,
Each step of Step S406 may not be performed.

If it is determined in step S404 that the form data is not being registered, the process proceeds to step S40.
In step 7, it is checked whether the print data is a form overlay execution instruction. If it is determined that the print data is a form overlay execution instruction, information indicating that there is form data to be superimposed on the normal page being processed (described later) Is set in the drawing object storage unit 205a, it is checked whether or not a form raster corresponding to the form data has been registered in the form raster storage unit 205d (step S408). If not registered, in step S409, the form data is read from the overlay storage unit 205a, and the drawing object generation unit 2
According to 03a, a drawing object corresponding to each print data (including character data) in the form data is generated (step S409).

The generation of the drawing object in step S409 may be the same processing as the analysis of the data printed on the normal page and the generation of the drawing object (described later in step S411). It is assumed that the font pattern is stored in a different area (for example, the work memory 205d) from the drawing object of the normal page, and the font pattern is registered in the font cache area. Note that the character data registered in the font cache is also used when processing normal page data, and hits the cache. Step S40
In step 9, management information for identifying the form is stored at the same time as the creation of the drawing object. Here, the management information includes a form ID (designated by the host) uniquely determined for each form, a paper size, a paper printing direction, a data generation resolution, and the like.

In the following step S410, a drawing object other than a font is drawn to generate a form raster (drawing object drawing unit 203c), and then the form image is encoded (raster encoding unit 203f). Image is stored in form raster storage 2
05d (form memory management unit 203d).
That is, each drawing object (excluding font pattern) corresponding to the form data generated in S409
Is temporarily drawn on the page memory 205c, then stored in the form raster storage unit 205d, and finally, the drawing object generated in the work memory is cleared. In the present embodiment, the form raster generated at this time is:
One page is generated and stored in a state of being divided into a plurality of bands, and the division height is configured to be the minimum height that the page memory (band raster) 205c can take. With this configuration, even if the band raster 205c can take three levels of 256 dots / 512 dots / 1024 dots in height depending on the mounted memory, the form raster is generated and stored at 256 dots in height. The same form raster can be used under different conditions. The procedure for drawing the drawing object on the form raster may be exactly the same as the procedure for drawing the drawing object of the normal page in the raster memory at the time of shipping.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S407 that the print data is not a form overlay execution command, the print data is analyzed as print data to be drawn on a normal page.
A drawing object is generated (step S411). That is, when the print data is a character print command, font information corresponding to the character information specified by the print data is read from the font ROM 204, a corresponding dot pattern (= drawing object) is generated, and print position information and The dot pattern is stored in the drawing object storage unit 205a together with information necessary for drawing on the page raster, such as width, height, drawing logic, and the like. Generate an intermediate code corresponding to each print command). On the other hand, step S
If it is determined in 408 that the form raster corresponding to the form data has been registered in the form raster storage unit, the process returns to step S401 to analyze the subsequent print data.

If the print data is a discharge command (or a command corresponding to the discharge command) in step S403, the overlay data presence / absence information set in the drawing object storage unit 205a in step S407 is checked (step S407). S412) If there is form data to be form-overlaid, the form raster drawing unit 203e reads out the encoded form raster for one band already generated in steps S407 to S410 from the form raster storage unit 203d and decodes it. After the conversion, the image is drawn on the band raster 205c (step S41).
3). In the following step S414, the font objects included in the form (generated in step S409) are read out for one band from the drawing object storage unit and drawn on the sequential band raster. Finally, the normal page object is drawn on the band raster, and the drawing process for one band is completed (step S415). Steps S412 to S415 are repeated for all bands until drawing for one page is completed (step S416). When all bands are completed, the process returns to step S401 to process print data of the next page.

Here, the drawing step of the font object in the form (step S414) and the drawing step of the normal page object (step S415)
However, as described later in the description of FIG. 5,
If a series of drawing information is sequentially read, step S is automatically performed.
414 and S415 are performed.

FIG. 5 is a memory map (FIG. 5A) showing one page in the normal page drawing object storage unit 205a according to the present embodiment, and a block diagram schematically showing the configuration (FIG. 5 (A)). b), 5 (c)). FIG.
In (a), a header section 501 stores various information of each page, and includes a page number counted from power-on, a print resolution, a paper size, the number of band rasters, a total capacity of drawing objects belonging to the page, The information includes information indicating the state of the page such as “drawn / shipped” and the presence / absence information 502 of overlay data to be drawn. The band tables 503 are prepared by the number of the band rasters, and the drawing information 504 corresponding to each drawing object to be printed in each band is linked (FIG. 5B). Individual drawing information and drawing objects are generated and secured in the drawing information storage unit 504 and the drawing object storage unit 505, respectively.

FIG. 5C is a schematic diagram showing the structure of one drawing information, and is configured to include the following information as information for drawing a drawing object. That is, the type of drawing object, the print position in the band (bit offset value from the upper left corner), the drawing height of the drawing object, the drawing logic with the band raster, the start address of the corresponding drawing object, and the drawing object This includes the offset amount (number of lines) for skipping the drawing object when drawing, the start address of the subsequent drawing information (the link end is NULL), etc. (each information can represent at least the specified paper at the specified resolution) It only needs to have as many bits as possible). Here, the type of the drawing object is assumed to be composed of a binary bitmap, a multivalued image, a rectangle, graphic data encoded in a run-length format, a compressed font pattern, and a line. The format itself of the drawing object is not particularly limited as long as it is expressed as an intermediate format capable of generating a bit image to be transmitted to the printer engine.

In step S415 of FIG. 4, the process of drawing a drawing object of a normal page or a font object included in a form for each band is performed by sequentially reading linked drawing information from the band table, and The drawing object is drawn in accordance with the print position information of the drawing. Since the font object in the form is usually generated before the page object, the drawing information is linked first, and as a result, the drawing information is drawn first.
When generating a form raster in step S410 in FIG. 4, by using the same configuration as described above, generation using the same drawing object drawing unit 203c is possible. However, when generating the font pattern in the form data, the drawing information corresponding to each font pattern is not linked, so that the font pattern is not drawn in the form raster.

FIG. 6 is a memory configuration diagram schematically showing the memory configuration of the form raster storage unit 205d managed by the form memory management unit 203d. In the figure, a management table 601 for each form is composed of information necessary for drawing and identifying each form. The storage area for the management table 601 may be secured in a fixed area in advance, or may be configured to be secured dynamically as much as possible. Management table 601
In the table, a form ID for identifying each form (managed by the same number as that of the host computer), a print resolution, a total number of divided bands, a paper direction, a band width, and a head address of the form raster band table 602 are included. The form raster band table 602 is a table for storing information on a band-like form raster unit divided in step S410 of FIG. 4, and is secured by the number corresponding to the number of bands in the management table 601.
It contains the start address of each form raster and the height of each band. If the height other than the lowermost band is constant, the constant value and the lowermost band height may be held in the form management table 601. Also, the management table 6
01, the resolution, paper orientation, and bandwidth are set based on the print data and panel specified values.
The form ID is specified by a printer driver or the like on the host as a parameter of the overlay registration command.

FIG. 7 shows a form memory management unit 203d.
Is a flowchart showing a procedure for checking whether a form raster corresponding to requested form data has been registered in a form raster storage unit. That is,
5 is a procedure showing details of step S408 in FIG. First, in step S701 in the figure, the form management table 601 in the form raster storage unit 205d is
The first form raster information is read, and it is checked whether the first form raster information matches each of the form information specified by the form overlay execution instruction (steps S702 to S706).
That is, the form IDs are compared (step S70).
2) If the same, the next form information is compared. If not, the next form raster information is read.
Proceed to step S708. Similarly, the print resolution (step S703), the paper orientation if the paper size supports the vertical / horizontal paper transport direction (step S704), the color mode for the color printer (step S705), the page It is checked whether or not the enlargement / reduction designation has been completed (step S706).
If all conditions match, the form number is stored as form raster presence / absence information in step S707,
It is determined that the form raster corresponding to the specified form overlay has been registered.

On the other hand, if any of the information in steps S702 to S706 does not match, step S708 is executed.
It is checked whether or not the search for all form rasters has been completed, and if not completed, the process returns to step S701. If the search for all form rasters has been completed, it is determined that the form raster has not been registered (step S709). ). <Generation of Form Raster from ROM Data> FIG.
A writable nonvolatile device such as a flash ROM or a hard disk (hereinafter, this device is referred to as a flash R
FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of generating a form image when form data in a page description language format is already stored in an OM. That is, flash RO
When the form data is provided by M, a form raster is generated and held not only by the procedure of FIG. 4 but also by the procedure of FIG.

The processing in this flowchart is performed immediately after the image output apparatus is turned on, before receiving print data,
The print data to be processed may be executed in a vacant time when it is not received, or a form raster generation command may be received from a host computer and executed before receiving print data of a normal page. It does not matter.

In the figure, first, in step S801, it is checked whether or not a flash ROM is mounted. If the flash ROM is not mounted, the process is terminated. On the other hand, if it is installed, in step S802, the printing conditions (print resolution, paper transport direction, color mode, etc.) set by the panel menu or the like are read out, and stored in the flash ROM in subsequent steps S803 and thereafter. A form raster is generated from the generated form data and registered in the form raster storage unit. First, it is checked whether or not the form data in the flash ROM has already been registered in the form raster storage unit (step S803). If the form data has not been registered, the form data is read out (step S804).
A drawing object for one page including the font pattern is generated (step S805), and each font pattern is registered in the font cache unit.

In step S806, it is checked whether print data has been received. If print data exists in the reception buffer, the generated drawing object corresponding to the form data is deleted (step S814), and the work memory is deleted. After releasing the work memory used as
The form image generation processing ends. Here, if the form image is being stored, the form image stored halfway is also released. In the present embodiment, step S80
Only in step 6, the existence of received data was checked.
Not limited to this, print data may be checked before and after steps that require a relatively long processing time, or periodically using a timer or the like. This prevents print processing of normal data that does not use a form, for example. Disappears.

In the following step S807, a form image for one band is drawn on the band buffer using the drawing object other than the font object, and then in step S808, the form image is encoded. In the following step S809, it is checked whether or not there is a memory capacity required for registration in the form image storage unit. If the empty memory capacity is insufficient, an error display is performed in step S810, and the process ends. On the other hand, if registration is possible, the encoded form image is stored (step S81).
1). The processes of steps S806 to S811 are repeated until all pages have been completed (step S812).
Finally, in step S813, unnecessary rendering objects other than the font cache are deleted, and the processing of one form is completed. In this embodiment, the processing is interrupted by displaying an error when the memory is insufficient. However, the priority of each form is specified by panel setting or the like, and the frequency of use is stored together with the form data, and the priority is determined. The form image may be deleted from the form image storage area in ascending order or ascending use frequency, and the form image storage processing may be continued.

According to the above procedure, the form data described in the page description language registered by the form data registration or the form data described in the page description language provided in advance in the ROM is intermediately processed by the form data generation instruction. The data is converted into a drawing object by data, raster data of the form is generated and encoded, and the raster data is stored. If it is found that there is an overlay on the page while the page receiving the sheet ejection command is being ejected, the stored encoded form raster data is decoded and expanded in the band memory, and Expand and print regular page objects other than forms.

In addition to the form data, the character data constituting the form is stored in the font cache in a format developed into bitmap data. Therefore, the form data includes the characters included therein. It can be cached and reused.

By doing so, the form data once registered is stored as encoded raster data, so that it is not necessary to develop it from the page description language, and it can be developed to the band memory quickly.

If the form data is transmitted not in the page description language but in image data, only the rasterization processing for the raster data is omitted, and if it is encoded and stored as it is. Good.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment, the character data included in the form data and the character data used in the normal page are registered in the font cache means without distinction. There was also a possibility that the font cache used in the form was deleted due to lack of memory or the like.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, of the font patterns registered in the font cache means, the font patterns generated and registered from the character data included in the form data are replaced with the character data included in the normal page. By setting the priority higher than that, the font cache used in the form data is configured to be less likely to be deleted than the character data used only in the normal page.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a basic configuration of an image output apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
The same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. In the figure, a priority setting / determination unit 901 sets a priority when registering a font pattern in the font cache management unit 203g, and manages which font pattern to delete from when deleting a font pattern. Other configurations are the same as those in FIG. <Structure of prioritized font cache> FIG.
0 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a font cache stored in a font cache storage unit according to the present embodiment.

In this embodiment, each font pattern 1006 can be searched by using the character code as a search key and tracing the indexes 1002 and 1003 from the font information management table 501 (hereinafter, management table). Here, the character code given from the outside is 1 byte or 2 bytes, and the index has two levels of depth for the upper byte (1002) and the lower byte (1003) of the character code. When registering a font pattern in the font cache, the position corresponding to the upper byte / lower byte of the character code
Write the following lower index or pointer to the font cache entity (the initial value in the index is N
UL). On the other hand, at the time of searching the font cache, first, it is checked whether or not the pointer of the lower byte index is set at the position of the index corresponding to the upper byte of the character code. Search by byte, and similarly get a pointer to the entity of the font cache. In the single-byte code system, the upper byte index is composed of only members of code = 0x00.

In the figure, the management table 1001 stores the following information for each font as information for identifying each font. That is, the typeface name,
A graphic set indicating the assignment of character codes and actual patterns, a character size, a flag indicating whether the font is scalable, a stroke weight indicating the thickness of the character line (not shown), and a flag indicating whether the pitch is fixed pitch or proportional pitch (not shown) In addition to a flag indicating vertical writing / horizontal writing (not shown), a pointer to an upper index 1002 for searching for a font pattern and the like are stored, and a font number is assigned to each management table ( (No. 1 and No. 2 in FIG. 10). FIG. 7 shows a case where a double-byte font is assigned to the management table with the font number = 1 and font patterns corresponding to character codes = 0x2422 and 0x3021 are linked.

The font cache 1004 includes a header information section 1005 and a font pattern 1006. The header information portion 1005 includes information necessary for drawing such as a dot width w and a dot height h of the font pattern, a rotation angle, a head address of the font pattern, an offset value from the baseline, and pitch information. Font information serving as a search determination key of a font cache, such as modification information such as presence or absence of bold modification, is set. When the character pattern is stored in a compressed state, the character pattern has an encoding flag indicating that the character pattern is compressed, in addition to the above information.

Further, the font cache according to the present invention has a priority order flag 1005a indicating whether or not the font cache is used in the fixed form part. If the character data is included, the priority flag 1005a is set to 1; otherwise, 0 (if the font cache is created during normal page analysis). Also, when the font cache is searched to find the desired font pattern (hit the cache), the form data is being analyzed and the priority order flag 100
If 5a is set to 0, the priority flag is reset to 2. Note that the priority order flag 1005a
Is set to 2, indicating that the font cache was used from both within the form and from the regular page.

On the other hand, when the page cache is hit and the normal page data is being analyzed and the priority flag is set to 1, the priority flag is reset to 2 and the form is changed in the same manner as described above. Indicates that the font cache is used from both inside and normal pages.

In FIG. 10, the font pattern 10
06 has been described as a character pattern generated in the RAM 205, but a font ROM such as a dot font is used.
If the font pattern is stored in the memory 204 in advance,
The font pattern does not need to exist in 205. In this case, the head address of the font pattern in the header information part 1005 is set to the head address of the font pattern in the font ROM 204.

In the above-described font cache, when the font cache is deleted (for example, when the memory is insufficient), the priority order flag is deleted in the order of 0 → 1 → 2 so that the priority flag is deleted only in the normal page. The font cache that is used is deleted first, followed by the font cache that is used only in the form, and finally the font cache that is used both in the form and on the regular page. Such a procedure makes it difficult for the font cache used in the fixed form part to be deleted, and can increase the hit rate of the font cache particularly when the form is used on a plurality of pages.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a procedure for developing the above-described font. If the memory capacity for expanding the font is not sufficient (step S111-
YES), the deletion threshold is set to 0 (step S1)
12). Next, the font cache having a priority order equal to or less than the deletion threshold is deleted only in an amount sufficient to secure a necessary memory capacity or in all of the smaller ones (step S113). As a result, it is determined whether the necessary memory has been secured (step S114), and if it is secured, the font is developed using the memory (step S115). If the memory is not sufficient, it is determined whether the current deletion threshold is 2 (step S11).
6) If it is 2, the memory capacity is still insufficient even if all font caches are deleted.
This is an error. Also, the deletion threshold is 0 or 1
If so, the current deletion threshold is increased by one, and the font cache of the next priority is deleted.

As described above, the font cache used in the form section is hardly deleted, and the hit rate of the font cache can be increased particularly when the form is used on a plurality of pages, and the efficiency of the printing process can be improved. it can.

In order to indicate for each font type that a font cache of priority 1 or 2 is included, a flag indicating that high-priority characters are included in a scalable flag column or the like. May be provided. In this case, when the priority flag is set to 1 or 2, the high priority (priority 1 or 2) is simultaneously set.
A flag indicating that the character is included is also set. When deleting the font cache, first, for each type of font, it is determined whether or not the font includes high-priority characters, and if not, the font is deleted from the font. If so, check the other fonts and repeat the same process.

In addition to the above-mentioned priorities, whether or not there is modification, font pattern size, JIS second level / first
The priority for deleting the font cache may be set based on information such as level Kanji / first level non-kanji.

[0074]

[Other Embodiments] Even if the present invention is applied to a system including a plurality of devices (for example, a host computer, an interface device, a reader, a printer, etc.), an apparatus (for example, a copying machine) Machine, facsimile machine, etc.).

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a storage medium storing program codes of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or an apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
Or MPU) reads and executes the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) Performs part or all of the actual processing, and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written into a memory provided in a function expansion board inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, The case where the CPU of the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs part or all of the actual processing, and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the processing.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention,
One page of form data is stored as encoded image data, and when a form overlay execution instruction is received,
By decoding the corresponding form image, the drawing process can be completed at high speed regardless of the form data content. In particular, in the case of a print instruction for a plurality of pages in which a normal page is different for each page with respect to the same form data, the time required to generate the form data for the second and subsequent pages can be reduced.

In particular, since a form image that does not include character data is encoded, the encoding rate (compression rate) of the encoding means is increased to improve the memory use efficiency, and at the same time, encoding / decoding is performed. Can reduce the processing time required.

Further, since it is not necessary to individually have the same drawing object for each page, it is possible to reduce the processing speed for waiting for paper discharge and the like, and to reduce the memory required for drawing.

When the form data is stored in the non-volatile device, a form image corresponding to the form data is generated by using the idle time when the power is turned on or when the data to be printed is not received from the host. By encoding, the first print of the first page can be output at high speed.

Also, the form image is generated, encoded, and held in units of one page divided into bands, and when the form overlay is designated, the form images are sequentially decoded, read out, and drawn in the band buffer. With this configuration, it is not necessary to perform preprocessing or skipping processing at the time of decoding, and the present invention can be easily applied to an image output apparatus that draws normal page data by a banding method.

Further, among the font patterns registered in the font cache, the font patterns included in the form data are set at a higher priority than the character data included in the normal page other than the form, and are not easily deleted. By doing so, the font cache included in the form data can be easily hit, and the processing speed in printing a plurality of pages of the form can be improved.

[0086]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a laser beam printer to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the image output device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an outline of a form overlay registration process, a form raster registration process, and a form overlay execution procedure in the image output apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 illustrates a form overlay registration, a form raster registration, and a form raster registration in the image output apparatus according to the first embodiment.
It is a flowchart of a form overlay execution process.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a drawing object storage unit of the image output device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a form raster storage unit of the image output device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a form image search procedure of the image output device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a procedure of form raster generation / registration of the image output device according to the first embodiment when form data is stored in a nonvolatile memory.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an image output device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a font cache storage unit in the image output device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a font development process of the image output device according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 Printing device 201 CPU 203 Program ROM 203a Drawing object generation unit 203b Overlay registration / readout unit 203d Form memory management unit 203e Form raster drawing unit 203f Raster encoding / decoding unit 203g Font cache management unit 205 RAM 205a Drawing object storage memory 205b Form data storage unit 205c Page memory (band raster) 205d Form raster storage memory 207 Receive buffer 501 Page information header unit 502 Overlay presence / absence information 503 Band table 504 Drawing information storage memory 505 Drawing object storage unit 601 Form raster management table 602 Form band table 603 Encoded form raster 901 Priority setting / judgment unit 1001 Font information management table 1002/1003 Index 1004 Font cache 1005 Font cache header information section 1006 Font pattern

Claims (20)

[Claims] 1. A form storage means for encoding and storing form data generated as bitmap data containing no characters, and a form for generating, encoding and storing form data as bitmap data in the form storage means Generating means, a font cache for storing character data generated as bitmap data, character generating means for generating character data as bitmap data and storing the same in the font cache, and overlaying print data with form data. When printing, the stored encoded form data is decoded, and the character data included in the form data is drawn using the bitmap data stored in the font cache, and the print data is overlaid. Output overlay means An image output apparatus characterized by obtaining. 2. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said form generation means generates, encodes, and stores raster data based on form data received together with print data. 3. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said form generation means generates, encodes, and stores raster data based on form data stored in a nonvolatile memory in advance. 4. The image output apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said form generation means reads out form data and generates a form image when power is turned on or at idle time. 5. The image output apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said form generation means generates a form image in accordance with a form generation command specified by a host. 6. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the form generation means generates raster data in band units obtained by dividing one page, encodes the raster data, and stores the raster data. 7. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said form generation means generates, encodes, and stores raster data in page units. 8. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the overlay output unit overlaps normal page data other than the form data on the form data. 9. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the character generation unit generates character data including character data included in form data as image data and stores the image data in the font cache. 10. The character generation means sets character data included in form data to a higher priority than character data included in normal page data, stores the character data in a font cache, and stores the character data in a bitmap. 2. The image output apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the data stored in the font cache is deleted at the time of development, character data having a lower priority is deleted. 11. A form generation step of generating form data that does not include characters as bitmap data, encoding and storing the same in form storage means, and generating a character data as bitmap data and storing the same in a font cache. When printing the print data by overlaying the form data with the form data, the stored encoded form data is decoded, and the character data included in the form data is converted from the bitmap data stored in the font cache. And an overlay step of performing drawing using the print data and outputting the print data in a superimposed manner. 12. The form generating step according to claim 1, wherein the raster data is generated, encoded and stored based on the form data received together with the print data.
2. The image output method according to 1. 13. The image output method according to claim 12, wherein in the form generation step, raster data is generated, encoded, and stored based on form data stored in a nonvolatile memory in advance. 14. The image output method according to claim 13, wherein said form generating step reads out form data and generates a form image when power is turned on or at idle time. 15. The image output method according to claim 13, wherein in the form generation step, a form image is generated according to a form generation command instructed by a host. 16. The image output method according to claim 11, wherein in the form generating step, raster data is generated, encoded, and stored in band units obtained by dividing one page. 17. The image output method according to claim 11, wherein the form generating step generates, encodes, and stores raster data in page units. 18. The image output method according to claim 11, wherein in the overlay output step, normal page data other than the form data is overlapped on the form data. 19. The character generating step sets the character data included in the form data to a higher priority than the character data included in the normal page data, stores the character data in a font cache, and stores the character data in a bitmap. 12. The image output method according to claim 11, wherein when the data stored in the font cache is deleted at the time of development, character data having a lower priority is deleted. 20. Form generating means for generating form data that does not include characters as raster data, encoding and storing the same in a form storing means, and character generating means for generating character data as bitmap data and storing the same in a font cache When printing and overlaying the print data with the form data, the stored encoded form data is decoded, and the character data included in the form data uses the bitmap data stored in the font cache. A computer-readable memory storing a program for causing a computer to function as an apparatus having an overlay unit for performing drawing by using the computer and outputting the print data in a superimposed manner.