JP2001344126A - Printer debug system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer debug system capable of delicately controlling and monitoring a low-level control section. SOLUTION: This printer debug system 200 is provided in a printer 110 to confirm the actions of an image print section 130 having the low-level control section 132 and a printing mechanism 131. The printer debug system 200 is provided with a low-level control command construction section 205 generating low-level control commands in sequence at a simple level as required and a low-level control communication mechanism section 202 sending the low-level control commands generated by the low-level control command construction section 205 to the low-level control section 132 of the image print section 130.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer debug system for confirming the operation of a printer when designing and manufacturing an image printing unit, and for investigating the cause (debugging) of a problem if any.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A printer includes an image printing section having a printing mechanism section and a low-level control section for directly controlling the printing mechanism section, and the image printing section actually prints an image on paper. The printer also receives a print request (high-level print language) from a computer requesting printing, translates it, internally generates low-level control instructions, and sends them to a low-level control unit. It has a control unit.

Conventionally, various printer debugging systems have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-221082 discloses a technique for providing a mode changeover switch for switching between a print mode and a debugging mode, and debugging software inside the printer in the debugging mode.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 6-238993 discloses a technique in which a low-level control unit is debugged by connecting a computer dedicated for debugging to the printer as a substitute for the high-level control unit of the printer.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-256946 proposes a printer having a debug function for displaying print control data, print data, and bit image data supplied from a host device (computer).

There is also a technique in which the low-level control unit is provided with several types of continuous pattern printing functions to verify the operation of an image forming portion of a printing mechanism.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-221 is disclosed.
None of the inventions disclosed in JP-A-08-2, JP-A-6-2381993 and JP-A-7-256946 cannot be used for debugging the low-level control unit. That is, it does not have an operation confirmation function for each low-level control instruction or a debug function for communication between the high-level control unit and the low-level control unit.

Further, if the low-level control section is provided with several types of continuous pattern printing functions, the price of the low-level control element chip will increase. Even if a control chip dedicated to debugging is created, developing two types of chips that are different for each printer, one for debugging and one for product, still requires a cost.

In this debugging method, an image is created by a low-level control unit, but in an actual machine, it is created by a high-level control unit and sent to the low-level control unit. Therefore, this debugging method cannot be used to verify a mechanism for transmitting and receiving a large amount of image data.

As described above, the conventional debugging method includes:
Nothing particularly effective for mutual debugging of the high-level and low-level controls is provided. Under such circumstances, the unfinished high-level control unit and unfinished image printing unit are connected and debugged in cooperation with each other.
When a problem occurs, it is difficult to determine the cause, and debugging is extremely troublesome.

The present invention has been made based on such a background, and has as its object to provide a printer debug system capable of precisely controlling and monitoring a low-level control unit.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is provided inside a printer,
A low-level control instruction constructing unit that generates low-level control instructions as needed at a simple level in a printer debugging system that checks the operation of an image printing unit having a low-level control unit and a printing mechanism; And a low-level control communication mechanism for transmitting the low-level control command constructed by the command construction section to the low-level control section of the image printing section.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the printer debugging system according to the first aspect, an image data storage unit for receiving and storing image data from a user, and printing the image data stored in the image data storage unit. And an image print execution unit for generating a low-level control instruction group for the purpose.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the printer debugging system according to the first or second aspect,
A low-level control communication monitoring unit that monitors communication between the low-level control communication mechanism unit and the low-level control unit; and a communication status display unit that displays a communication status monitored by the low-level control communication monitoring unit. It is assumed that.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the low-level control instruction constructing unit creates low-level control instructions as needed at a simple level, and the low-level control communication constructing unit creates the low-level control instruction constructing unit. Is transmitted to the low-level control unit of the image printing unit, so that the operation status of the printing mechanism can be grasped in detail.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, the image data storage unit receives and stores the image data from the user, and the image print execution unit prints the image data stored in the image data storage unit. A low-level control instruction group is generated for the purpose, and after or during the execution confirmation of the low-level control instruction, comprehensive confirmation in performing image printing is performed. At this time, by giving a print image in a general image format, it is possible to deal with various survey images.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, the low-level control communication monitoring unit monitors the communication between the low-level control communication mechanism unit and the low-level control unit, and the communication status display unit displays the low-level control communication unit. Since the communication status monitored by the control communication monitoring unit is displayed, if there is any doubt about the operation of the communication itself while debugging the low-level control unit, the communication status is synchronized with the transmission / reception of the low-level control instruction. It is confirmed.

Further, by arranging the low-level control communication monitoring unit and the communication status display unit in the printer debugging system itself, the control status and the communication status of the control command are connected and confirmed. This makes it possible to understand which communication becomes strange when a low-level control command is sent, by associating the low-level control command with the communication.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printer system to be debugged according to the present invention. Computer 101
The printer 110 which receives the print data created by the printer 110 and executes printing is an image printing apparatus having a communication / analysis / high-level control unit 120 centered on the high-level control unit 121, a printing mechanism 131 and a low-level control unit 132. Unit 130.

The image printing section 130 actually prints the image on paper. The low-level control unit 132 of the image printing unit 130
Printing mechanism 13 for controlling the paper transport mechanism and executing various printings
1 has a function of monitoring numerical values obtained from various abnormality sensors and executing processing.

In such a printer system, when the printer 110 receives a print request (high-level print language) from the computer 101 requesting printing, the high-level control unit 121 translates the print request and outputs a low-level control. Instruction groups are internally generated, and they are
Send to The low-level control unit 132 operates according to the transmitted low-level control command group, and prints on a sheet by the above function.

The printer debugging system of the present invention described below debugs the image printing unit 130 of the printer 110 that actually prints an image.

FIG. 2 is a basic configuration diagram of the debugging system of the present invention connected to the image printing unit. The printer debug system 200 of the present invention includes an image printing unit 130 instead of the communication / analysis / high-level control unit 120 of the printer 110.
And has an image data storage unit 201, a low-level control communication mechanism unit 202, a low-level control communication monitoring unit 203, an image print execution unit 204, and a low-level control instruction construction unit 205.

FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram of the debugging system of the present invention connected to the image printing unit. The printer debugging system 200 includes a debugging system main body 210 directly connected to the image printing unit 130, and a terminal computer 220 for inputting a request from a user. The debug system main body 210 includes the image data storage unit 20.
1. It has a low-level control communication mechanism unit 202 and a low-level control communication monitoring unit 203. In addition, terminal computer 2
Reference numeral 20 includes an image placement unit 206 and a communication status display unit 207, in addition to the image print execution unit 204 and the low-level control command construction unit 205.

Next, the operation will be described. The user is in the low-level control instruction construction unit 205 of the terminal computer 220,
A low-level control instruction as required at a simple level is created one by one and sent to the low-level control communication mechanism unit 202 of the debug system main body 210. This low-level control command is transmitted from the low-level control communication mechanism unit 202 to the image printing unit 13.
0 is sent to the low-level control unit 132.

The low-level control unit 132 receives the low-level control command, and causes the printing mechanism 131 to perform a predetermined operation for each low-level control command. Therefore, the printing mechanism 131
Can be checked in detail. In addition, the debug system body 210 is connected to the image printing unit 13.
By logically separating the low-level control command from 0, the operation of each low-level control command can be checked in detail without printing an image. Thus, debugging of the printer 110 is performed.

Even if the printer 110 operates normally in response to a single low-level control instruction, the low-level control unit 132 and the printing mechanism 131 of the printer 110 respond to a complicated request for actually implementing a printing operation. Whether you can stand it,
In particular, the question of whether the control execution timing management is appropriate is not dispelled.

Therefore, the printer debugging system 200
Has a function of generating a group of low-level control instructions for printing image data in order to perform a comprehensive check on image printing after or during execution confirmation of an individual low-level control instruction. It has an image print execution unit 204 and an image data storage unit 201 that receives and stores image data in a general format from the image arrangement unit 206.

The image data stored in the image data storage unit 201 is sent to the image printing unit 130 through an image path, and the image is actually printed. In addition, a plurality of low-level control commands are sent from the low-level control communication mechanism unit 202 to the image printing unit 130 in parallel for the print control.
Utilizing this mechanism, the user can appropriately print arbitrary image data.

Therefore, the present printer debug system 20
0, whether the low-level control unit 132 can execute printing, whether image reception is normally performed,
31 is the operation of each part proper, the printed image is normal,
Items such as can be confirmed.

The image printing unit 130 of the printer 110
However, in the state immediately after the prototype has not been sufficiently debugged, the communication itself between the low-level control unit 132 and the high-level control unit (in this case, the printer debug system 200) may be suspicious in the first place. In such a case, the low-level control communication monitoring unit 203 can check the communication status at the hardware level in synchronization with the transmission and reception of the low-level control command.

With this, the communication of the low-level control command and the creation of the low-level control command for printing one image are linked, and the communication becomes strange when any low-level control command is sent. Can be monitored. In addition, by displaying these communication states on the communication state display unit 207, the user can grasp them.

[0033]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a low-level control instruction constructing unit creates a low-level control instruction as needed at a simple level, and a low-level control communication mechanism unit generates
The low-level control instructions constructed by the low-level control instruction construction unit are sent to the low-level control unit of the image printing unit, so that the operating status of the printing mechanism can be understood in detail and highly reliable debugging can be performed. Can be.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, the image data storage unit receives and stores the image data from the user, and the image print execution unit stores the image data stored in the image data storage unit. Since the low-level control instruction group for printing is generated, it is possible to perform a comprehensive confirmation in printing an image after or during the execution confirmation of the low-level control instruction. At this time, by giving a print image in a general image format, it is possible to cope with various survey images.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the above, the low-level control communication monitoring unit monitors the communication between the low-level control communication mechanism unit and the low-level control unit, and the communication status display unit displays The communication status monitored by the low-level control communication monitoring unit is displayed.If there is any doubt about the operation of the communication itself during debugging of the low-level control unit, communication is performed in synchronization with transmission and reception of the low-level control instruction. You can check the situation.

Further, by arranging the low-level control communication monitoring unit and the communication status display unit in the printer debugging system itself, the control status and the communication status of the control command are connected and confirmed. Can be understood by associating the low-level control command with the communication, which communication becomes strange when sending.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a printer system to be debugged according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a basic configuration diagram of the debugging system of the present invention connected to an image printing unit.

FIG. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the debugging system of the present invention connected to an image printing unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 110 Printer 130 Image Printing Unit 131 Printing Mechanism 132 Low Level Control Unit 200 Printer Debug System 201 Image Data Storage Unit 202 Low Level Control Communication Mechanism Unit 203 Low Level Control Communication Monitoring Unit 204 Image Printing Execution Unit 205 Low Level Control Instruction Construction Unit 206 Image placement unit 207 Communication status display unit 210 Debug system body 220 Terminal computer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printer debugging system for checking the operation of an image printing unit provided inside a printer and having a low-level control unit and a printing mechanism, wherein a low-level control command is generated as needed at a simple level. A low-level control instruction constructing unit; and a low-level control communication mechanism that sends the low-level control instruction constructed by the low-level control instruction constructing unit to the low-level control unit of the image printing unit. Printer debugging system. 2. The printer debugging system according to claim 1, wherein the image data storage unit receives and stores image data from a user, and a low-level control instruction group for printing the image data stored in the image data storage unit. A printer debug system, comprising: an image print execution unit configured to generate the image data. 3. The printer debugging system according to claim 1, wherein the low-level control communication monitoring unit monitors communication between the low-level control communication mechanism unit and the low-level control unit. And a communication status display unit for displaying a communication status monitored by the printer debugging system.