JP2000293329A - Device and method for abbreviating control code - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To secure an original printer printing speed by decreasing the data transfer amount of control information from a computer by adding commands to be registered when data to be printed are transmitted to the printer. SOLUTION: When a control code from a computer 10 is stored in a receiving buffer 12, a printer F/W 14 analyzes the control code by a data analysis part 16. When a control code registration command is present in control data, the data analysis part 16 registers it in a control code buffer 18. At this time, the data analysis part 16 stores the registered address and registration number. When a control code having a large number of byes such as for a reduced/ enlarged character is sent, the registration number is added and then the registration number is only sent thereafter, so that the printer performs the control process corresponding to the registered number. Consequently, the amount of data to be sent to the printer decreases to increase the process speed of the I/F between the host device and printer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control code shortening apparatus and method for printing commands without reducing the printing speed by converting control information transferred from a computer to a printing apparatus into a command and reproducing the information from the command on the printing press side. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Although the speed of a printer itself is increasing,
There has been a phenomenon that the data transfer speed from the computer is not enough to deteriorate the original printing speed of the printer.

[0003] An example of data reduction to a conventional printing apparatus in order to solve this problem is described in JP-A-9-219762. The information processing apparatus, the printing apparatus, the printing system, and the data processing method of the printing system described in this publication transfer the error control information added to the transfer data transferred from the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus by changing the transfer unit. By reducing the amount of error information occupying data, the amount of information between the information processing apparatus and the printing apparatus is reduced, and the printing processing time is shortened.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned JP-A-9-21
The information processing apparatus, the printing apparatus, the printing system, and the data processing method of the printing system described in Japanese Patent No. 9762 reduce the amount of information to the printing apparatus by reducing the error control information of the data transferred to the printing apparatus by the CPU. Was.
In the transfer data, it is required to reduce not only the error control information but also the control information necessary for printing. Control information necessary for printing is different from error information, and it is difficult to reduce the number of times information is transferred. If the number of times is simply reduced, characters and the like cannot be accurately printed when printing.

An object of the present invention is to provide a control code shortening apparatus and method which reduce the amount of control information data transferred from a computer so as not to impair the original printing speed of a printer.

[0006]

According to the control code shortening apparatus of the present invention, when data is received from an information processing apparatus, the data is analyzed, and when there is a command to be registered, the control code is information relating to printing of the data. Register the code, when there is a command to refer to the data, refer to the registered control code from the command to be referenced, control means to print the data, when transmitting the data to be printed to a printing device, An information processing apparatus having means capable of adding the command to be registered and the command to be referred to is provided.

A control code shortening method according to the present invention acquires print data to which a registration command or a reference command is added, and registers control data, which is information on printing included in the print data, at the time of the registration command. When the command is the reference command, the print data is printed with reference to the registered control data.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the present invention, when a control code having a large number of bytes, such as reduced / enlarged characters (Fsm), is sent to a printer, the control code itself is registered in the printer, and a registration number is assigned. The printer performs control of the registered number only by sending the registered number. As a result, the amount of data sent to the printer is reduced, and the processing speed of the I / F between the host device and the printer is increased.

The configuration of an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control code shortening apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the control code shortening apparatus of the present invention is a host apparatus, which is a computer that outputs control codes of documents, graphics, and other print data using a printer driver or the like, and a computer that outputs the control codes. There are a receiving buffer 12 for receiving and storing control codes, a control code buffer 14 for storing control codes, registration numbers, and other data to be registered, and commands for acquiring, analyzing, and registering data received by the receiving buffer 12. And control code buffer 1
4, a data analysis unit 16 for acquiring data from the control code buffer 14 based on the control code and outputting the data when there is a command for executing printing or the like. 12, a printer F / W 18 that controls the control code buffer 14 and the data analysis unit 16 and controls control codes and other data from the computer 10.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control code registration command of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control code reference command according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a control code addition command of the present invention. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, in the command from the computer 10, the control code registration command adds "Fs0, length, xx, control code."
s1, xx. ". “Xx” indicates a registered number in the case of a registration command, and indicates a registered number in the case of reference.

Referring to FIG. 2, a control code from the computer 10 is stored in the reception buffer 12. The control code is analyzed by the data analyzer 16. When there is a control code registration command in the control data, the data analysis unit 16 registers the control code in the control code buffer 14. At this time, the data analysis unit 16 stores the registered address (here, the head of the control code buffer starts from 8080000H) and the registration number.

For example, the registration number “1” is obtained by dividing “vertical 1/2 × horizontal 1/2” by the control code buffer address 800 800
00H. The registration number “2” is “Vertical 1/2
X 1 horizontal width "is stored in 8008000 CH. The registration number “3” is “800 × 0018H” for “1 × 1”.
Is stored in

FIG. 3 shows a flow of a control code reference command for referring to a registered code. Referring to FIG. 3, a control code from a higher order is stored in the reception buffer 12. Here, the control data is analyzed by the data analysis unit 16. When there is a control code reference command in the control data, the data analysis unit 16 reads the contents of the stored address from the number referring to the code stored in the control code buffer 14 and processes the control code. .

For example, for the reference number "1", "1/2 vertical x 1/2 horizontal" at the control code buffer address 8008000H is read, and the following character "AAAAA"
Is reduced to "1/2 vertical x 1/2 horizontal" and printed. The registration number “2” is the control code buffer address 800 800
The “vertical 1/2 × horizontal” in the CH is read out, and the subsequent character “BBBB” is reduced to “vertical 1/2 × horizontal” and printed. The registration number “3” is read “1 × 1” in the control code buffer address 808018H, and the subsequent character “CCCC” is “1 × 1”.
Print with.

[0015]

The control code shortening apparatus of the present invention stores necessary command instructions in a control code buffer, and can execute printing by a simple command from a computer. According to the present invention, necessary data is acquired by the printing apparatus by analyzing the command in the data analysis unit, so that the amount of data from the computer can be reduced, and the original printing speed of the printer is not impaired. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control code shortening apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a control code registration command of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a control code reference command of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a control code addition command of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 computer 12 reception buffer 14 control data buffer 16 data analysis unit 18 printer F / W

Claims (6)

[Claims] And a control code that is information relating to printing in data transferred from the information processing apparatus to the printing apparatus, and is converted into a command by registering the control code in the printing apparatus. A control code shortening device, characterized by printing a character string. 2. When receiving data from an information processing apparatus, the data is analyzed, and when there is a command to be registered, a control code which is information relating to printing of the data is registered,
When there is a command to refer to the data, the control unit refers to the registered control code from the command to refer to, prints the data, and transmits the data to be printed to a printing apparatus. A control code shortening device, comprising: an information processing device having means capable of adding the command to be referred to. 3. The control code shortening apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control code, which is information relating to printing, is information on a size of a character to be printed. 4. The control means registers the control code when there is a reception buffer for receiving and storing the data from the information processing device and a command for registering the data in the reception buffer. Obtain and store the address of the control code and the number for calling, and when the data includes the reference command, obtain the number of the same value as the number for calling in the reference command, and obtain the number for calling. A data analysis unit that obtains the control code by retrieving the control code, prints the control code using the control code, registers the control code, and outputs an address of the registered control code and a number to call to the data analysis unit. The control code shortening device according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising: 5. The control code shortening apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said data is a character or a graphic. 6. Acquiring print data to which a registration command or a reference command is added, registering control data that is information on printing included in the print data at the time of the registration command, and registering the control data at the time of the reference command. A control code shortening method for printing the print data with reference to the control data.