JPS62236745A - Data processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily change over a color mode and a monochromatic mode without carrying out special processing according to an application program, by storing an information, such that either one of the color mode and the monochromatic mode must be selected in printing, in a non-volatile memory. CONSTITUTION:The content stored in a main memory device 3 is entirely extincted when the power source of a data processing unit is cut off but the content of a non-volatile memory 4 is held even after the cutting-OFF of the power source. A color printer 5 is operated by indicating either one of a monochromatic printing mode and a seven-color printing mode by a central processing unit 1. The content of the main memory device is described by an assembler word carried out and interpreted by an interpretor 11. An operating system 12 adminiters the control of the program stored in an application program area 13. Further, the content of the non-volatile memory 4 can be rewritten at the arbitrary point of time during the operation of this data processing unit using a keyboard 6 and CRT by the actions of the operating system 12 and the interpretor 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a printing mode selection method for a data processing device.
In particular, the present invention relates to a mode selection method for a printer capable of printing in both color and monochrome modes.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, the general method for selecting this type of printing mode has been to specify it individually by each application program.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the above-described method of specifying color/monochrome print modes by individual application programs in the conventional data processing device, it is not possible to easily change the print mode specified by each application program. It was difficult.

For this reason, if the color mode is specified by the application, especially if the printing time in color mode is significantly longer than the printing time in monochrome mode, the disadvantage is that color printing takes a long time. there were.

An object of the present invention is to store information on whether to print in color or monochrome mode in a nonvolatile memory inside a data processing device connected to a printer capable of printing in either color or monochrome mode. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a data processing device which eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and is configured so that color printing does not require long periods of time.

(Means for Solving the Problems) A data processing device according to the present invention includes a printer, a nonvolatile memory, and processing/storage means.

The printer can print in either color or monochrome mode.

The non-volatile memory is for storing information on whether printing should be performed in color or monochrome mode.

The processing/storage means is used to operate the printer and non-volatile memory to print in color, preferably monochrome.

(Example) Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a data processing apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, l is a central processing unit, 2 is an internal bus, 3 is a main memory, 4 is a non-volatile memory, 5 is a color printer, 6 is a keyboard, and 7 is a CRT.
It is.

In FIG. 1, a main storage device 3, a nonvolatile memory 4, a color printer 5, a board 6, and a CRT) are connected to an internal bus 2 connected to a central processing unit 1. .

The contents stored in the main memory device 3 are completely erased by turning off the power to the data processing device according to the present invention, but the contents in the non-volatile memory 4 are retained even after the power is turned off.

The color printer S can be operated by specifying either monochrome printing using only black or color printing using seven colors according to an instruction from the central processing unit 1.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the internal memory allocation of the main storage device 3. As shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, 11 is an interpreter;
12 is an operating system, and 13 is an application program area.

The contents of the main memory 3 are written in an assembler language that is executed and interpreted by an interpreter 11. The operating system 12 is in charge of controlling programs stored in the application program area 13.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of the execution of print commands by the interpreter 11. In FIG.

In FIG. 3, step 14. The type of printer connected and the print mode stored in the nonvolatile memory 4 are determined based on Is, and the color printer 5 is connected. Color printing is performed in step 16 only when the nonvolatile memory 4 is designated as color mode, and in other cases, monochrome printing is performed in step 17.

When a print command is issued to the color printer 5 from the application program area 13, the print command is executed and interpreted by the interpreter 11 via the operating system 12. At this time, the interpreter 11 refers to the contents of the nonvolatile memory 4, and prints in color or monochrome mode according to the instructions.

It should be noted that the contents of the nonvolatile memory 4 can be rewritten at any time during the operation of the present data processing apparatus by the operation of the operating system 12 and the interpreter 11, using the keyboard 6 and the CRT 7.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, the present invention stores information on whether to print in color or monochrome mode in a nonvolatile memory, thereby eliminating the need for an application program to execute special processing. This has the advantage that it is possible to easily switch between the two modes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a data processing device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing memory allocation of the main storage device of the data processing device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing flow for executing and interpreting print commands in the data processing apparatus shown in FIG. m1. l...Central processing unit 2...Internal bus 3...Main storage device 4...φNon-volatile memory 5...Color printer 6--Keyboard 7φ...CRT 11...Fist interleater

Claims (1)

[Claims] A printer capable of printing in either color or monochrome mode, a non-volatile memory for storing information on whether printing should be performed in either color or monochrome mode, and operating the printer and the non-volatile memory. 1. A data processing device comprising processing/storage means for printing in color or monochrome.