JP2008015649A - Print controller, printing system, method of controlling printer, driver program, and recording medium for recording this program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print controller starting printing earlier when printing data described in a markup language such as XML, a printing system, a method of controlling a printer, a driver program, and a recording medium for recording the program. <P>SOLUTION: The second XML interpreting part 222 of an XML parsing part 220 specifies the rear-end position of a description corresponding to a drawing command and having a drawing area associated with the head band of an XML document, and sends a notification of the line number of the rear-end position to a first XML interpreting part 221. The first XML interpreting part 221 interprets a description prior to a line corresponding to the notification of the line number and obtains and passes the drawing command to a control part 210. A rendering part 230 creates the band data of the head band through a rendering process that follows the drawing command received. The control part 210 sends the band data to the printer so that the printer starts the process of printing the head band. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention generates image data that can be processed by a printing apparatus from data described in a markup language such as XML, and controls a printing process performed in accordance with the image data. The present invention relates to a driver program and a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an XML printer that can process data (hereinafter, also referred to as “XML document”) described in XML (Extensible Markup Language), which is one of markup languages, is known.

  For example, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, a printer driver generates image data expressed in a language or bitmap format that can be interpreted by a printer by expanding the contents of an XML document.

  In the technique described in Patent Document 2, when the address information on the network is included in the XML document, the data such as the object is acquired and communicated with the server to which the address information is specified on the network. Image data is generated by interpreting and rendering an XML document incorporating the acquired data.

  Here, in order to save a memory area required for processing by the printer, an image may be processed for each band divided by a predetermined height. In order to handle an XML document with such a printer, it is necessary to divide an image generated from the XML document into bands and sequentially supply image data for each band (hereinafter referred to as “band data”) to the printer.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 12, in the case where an image on which a plurality of figures are drawn is handled as a print target in response to a plurality of drawing commands obtained by interpreting an XML document, the paper transport direction (Y direction) during printing is used. ) Is divided into a plurality of bands so that the image is divided at predetermined heights (number of pixels) from the upper end of), and processing is performed for each band. Specifically, when the divided bands are referred to by band 0, band 1,... In ascending order from the end, the printer driver transmits band data in order from band 0, and the printer Printing processing such as conversion processing and screen processing is performed for each band data. As a result, the print contents of each band are printed one after another, and the entire image to be printed is printed.

  As described above, when the printer performs the printing process for each band, the printing process for each band is performed according to the band data of each band. Therefore, the timing for starting the printing for the XML document is the band of the first band from the printer driver. Depends on the timing of receiving data. That is, when the printer receives the band data of the first band, the printing process corresponding to the XML document to be printed can be started.

JP 2000-330908 A JP 2002-91726 A

  However, since the rendering commands described in the XML document are not always described in order according to the rendering position, in order for the printer driver to generate the first band data, the interpretation / comprehension of all rendering commands in the XML document is not necessary. It needs to be generated after waiting for expansion.

  For example, when an XML document is interpreted and expanded in the order of description and three objects OB1, OB2, and OB3 are drawn in order as shown in FIG. 12, the two objects OB1 and OB3 are the first band (band 0). Since it is in the band area, the band data of the first band cannot be obtained when the object OB1 is drawn. In order to obtain the band data of the first band, it is necessary to wait at least until the third object OB3 is drawn.

  As described above, the order of drawing commands obtained by interpreting the XML document in the order of description has no relation to the drawing position, and therefore, the band data of the first band until all drawing commands described in the XML document are expanded. Cannot be determined. For this reason, there is a problem that the timing at which the printer starts the printing process in accordance with the band data of the leading band is delayed.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a print control apparatus, a printing system, a printing apparatus control method, and a driver program that can start printing at an earlier timing when printing data described in a markup language such as XML. And a recording medium on which the program is recorded.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a print control apparatus that causes a printing apparatus to sequentially execute a printing process for each band in which an image to be printed is divided into predetermined heights. Input means for receiving input data described in a markup language, first interpretation means for sequentially interpreting the description of the input data and successively obtaining drawing commands for drawing an image to be printed, and input data The second interpretation means for specifying the description range of the input data necessary for the print processing of the first band, which is a band whose print processing execution order is a band from the start to a predetermined number, and the specified description The drawing command acquired from the description of the range is expanded to generate band data for the first band, and then the drawing command acquired from the description outside the specified description range is further expanded to generate the band after the first band. And deployment means for generating data, if the band data is generated, characterized in that it comprises a print control means for causing the printing apparatus to print processing according the band data.

  According to this configuration, the description range of the input data necessary for the printing process of the first band is specified, the band data of the first band is generated by interpreting the description of the specified description range, and the band data of the first band is followed. Cause the printing apparatus to perform the printing process. Then, after the generation of the band data of the first band, the description outside the specified description range is further interpreted to generate band data after the first band, and the printing apparatus performs printing processing for the first band and the subsequent bands. Since the printing apparatus starts printing processing of the first band at the timing when the band data of the first band is generated without waiting for interpretation / development of the description corresponding to the band after the first band, it corresponds to the input data. The timing for starting printing can be advanced. In addition, since the timing of the end of printing is also advanced, for example, the waiting time from when the user issues a print instruction until the end of printing can be shortened, and the convenience for the user can be further improved.

  In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, the second interpreting means interprets the description of the input data, searches for the rear end position of the description corresponding to the drawing command having the drawing range applied to the head band, and expands the means. In the input data, the rendering order obtained from the description in front of the rear end position is sequentially expanded to generate the first band data, and then the interpretation order is obtained from the rear description from the rear end position. It is preferable to generate band data after the first band by sequentially expanding the drawing commands.

  According to this configuration, the rear end position of the description corresponding to the drawing command having the drawing range for the first band is searched, the description of the input data whose interpretation order is ahead of the rear end position is interpreted, and the first band Band data is generated, and the printing apparatus is caused to perform printing processing according to the band data of the first band. Then, after the generation of the band data of the first band, the description with the interpretation order behind the rear end position is interpreted to generate band data after the first band, and the printing apparatus performs printing processing for the first band and the subsequent bands. As a result, it is possible to perform processing with earlier printing start timing.

  In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, the processing performed by the first interpretation unit and the processing performed by the second interpretation unit are executed in parallel, and the expansion unit is configured such that the second interpretation unit sets the rear end position. Until it is found, it is preferable that the drawing commands acquired by the first interpreter are sequentially developed, and the second interpreter finds the rear end position before generating the band data of the first band.

  According to this configuration, since the first interpreting unit and the developing unit advance the processing without waiting for the search for the rear end position by the second interpreting unit, the processing efficiency is increased and the timing of starting printing can be further advanced. it can.

  In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the second interpretation unit interprets the description of the input data in the reverse order of the interpretation order performed by the first interpretation unit.

  According to this configuration, the second interpreting unit searches for the rear end position in the reverse order of the order of interpretation by the first interpreting unit, so that the parallel processing performed by the first interpreting unit and the second interpreting unit is performed. Can be performed efficiently.

  Further, in the printing control apparatus of the present invention, when the second interpreting unit detects the rear end position, the developing unit includes the first interpreting unit if the drawing command corresponding to the description of the rear end position is not developed. It is preferable to successively develop drawing commands acquired by, and generate band data of the leading band at the timing when the drawing commands corresponding to the description of the rear end position are developed.

  According to this configuration, when the drawing command corresponding to the description of the rear end position is not expanded, the band data of the head band is generated after waiting for the drawing command corresponding to the description of the rear end position to be expanded. Therefore, it is possible to perform a process with an earlier start timing of the printing process while the first interpreter and the second interpreter are processed in parallel.

  In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, when the second interpreting unit detects the rear end position, if the drawing command corresponding to the description of the rear end position has already been developed, It is preferable to generate the band data of the first band from the drawing command.

  According to this configuration, when the drawing command corresponding to the description of the rear end position has already been developed, the band data of the first band is immediately generated from the already developed drawing command. It is possible to perform processing with earlier start timing of the printing process while performing parallel processing with the interpreter.

  In the printing control apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the markup language is any one of XML, HTML, or XHTML.

  According to this configuration, printing corresponding to input data in the XML, HTML, or XHTML format can be started at an earlier timing.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing system comprising: a printing apparatus; and a printing control apparatus that causes the printing apparatus to sequentially execute a printing process for each band obtained by dividing an image to be printed into a predetermined height. The print control apparatus receives input data in which an image to be printed is described in a markup language, and a drawing command for sequentially interpreting the description of the input data and drawing the image to be printed. First interpretation means to be obtained one after another, interpreting the description of the input data, and describing the description range of the input data necessary for the print processing of the first band in which the print processing execution order is a band up to a predetermined number from the top And a second interpreting means for specifying, wherein the printing apparatus expands a drawing command acquired from the description of the specified description range to generate band data of the first band, and then, other than the specified description range A development unit that further develops a drawing command acquired from the description to generate band data after the first band; and a print processing unit that executes a printing process according to the band data when the band data is generated. Features.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to obtain a highly convenient printing system in which the timing for starting printing is advanced.

  The present invention can also be a method invention. That is, the present invention is a method for controlling a printing apparatus that causes a printing apparatus to sequentially perform printing processing for each band obtained by dividing an image to be printed into a predetermined height. An input process for receiving the input data described in Step 1, a first interpretation process for sequentially interpreting the description of the input data, and sequentially obtaining drawing commands for drawing an image to be printed, and interpreting the description of the input data Then, from the second interpretation step for specifying the description range of the input data, which is necessary for the print processing of the leading band that is the band in which the execution order of the printing processing is a predetermined number of bands from the beginning, A first expansion step of expanding the acquired drawing command to generate band data of the first band, and further expanding a drawing command acquired from a description outside the specified description range, A second expanding step of generating Dodeta, the band data is generated, characterized in that it comprises a print control step of causing the printing device to print processing according the band data.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be a program and a recording medium on which the program is recorded. The present invention relates to a driver program for causing a printing apparatus to sequentially execute a printing process for each band in which an image to be printed is divided into predetermined heights. An input means for receiving the input data described in 1), a first interpreting means for sequentially interpreting the description of the input data and sequentially obtaining drawing commands for drawing the image to be printed; and interpreting the description of the input data The second interpreting means for specifying the description range of the input data, which is necessary for the print processing of the leading band in which the execution order of the printing processing is a band from the beginning to a predetermined number, is obtained from the description of the specified description range. The drawing command is expanded to generate band data for the first band, and then the drawing commands acquired from descriptions outside the specified description range are further expanded to the bands after the first band. When the band data is generated, the band data is sequentially supplied to the printing apparatus via the communication means for communicating with the printing apparatus, and the printing process according to the band data is performed on the printing apparatus. It is characterized by functioning as print control means to be performed.

  As a recording medium on which the driver program is recorded, various computer-readable media such as a flexible disk, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, a magneto-optical disk, an IC card, or a memory card can be used. .

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the printing system 1 includes a host computer (printing control device) 2 and a printer (printing device) 3.

  The host computer 2 is, for example, a general-purpose personal computer. As shown in FIG. 1, the CPU 20, ROM 21, RAM 22, hard disk (HD) 23, CD-ROM drive 24, network interface (network I / F) 25, and communication An interface (communication I / F) 26 is provided. The communication I / F 26 is connected to the printer 3 via a cable, and the host computer 2 and the printer 3 can perform data communication with each other. The network I / F 25 is connected to the network server 4 via a LAN cable or the like, and the host computer 2 can be connected to the Internet by communicating with the network server 4 according to a predetermined protocol.

  The CPU 20 is a part that controls each configuration of the host computer 2, and has a plurality of processing cores in parallel by having a technology corresponding to multithreading such as hyper-threading technology and a plurality of processor cores as processing units. The configuration is executable. As a result, the CPU 20 executes in parallel a process performed as a first XML interpretation unit, which will be described later, and a process performed as a second XML interpretation unit. However, the processing performed as the first XML interpretation unit and the second XML interpretation unit may be performed in parallel by adopting a configuration including two or more CPUs.

  The ROM 21 is a non-volatile memory in which a predetermined program for controlling the host computer 2 is recorded, and the RAM 22 is a general-purpose memory used as a working memory.

  The HD 23 records application programs and driver programs according to the present invention. The driver program may be recorded in advance on the HD 23 or supplied in a form recorded on a recording medium such as the CD-ROM 5, and the CPU 20 reads the program from the CD-ROM 5 by the CD-ROM drive 24. The program may be recorded on the HD 23.

  Then, the CPU 20 executes the application program recorded in the HD 23 under a predetermined operation system, so that the application 100 functions, and the printer driver 200 functions by reading and executing the driver program (see FIG. 2). ).

  The application 100 is a print request source for the printer 3 such as document creation software or a web browser. The application 100 prints an XML document created by the document creation software, an XML document acquired from the Internet so that the web browser communicates with the network server 4, and a predetermined format including the print request and the XML document. The print data is transferred to the printer driver 200.

  When the printer driver 200 receives the print data from the application 100, the printer driver 200 interprets the XML document (input data) and performs a drawing process to generate image data in a format that can be processed by the printer 3, and this print image. This is a part that transmits data to the printer 3 via the communication I / F 26. In order to perform these processes, the printer driver 200 includes a control unit 210, an XML parsing unit 220, and a rendering unit 230, as shown in FIG.

  The control unit 210 is a part that controls the XML parsing unit 220 and the rendering unit 230 to perform various processes on the XML document. Therefore, the control unit 210 includes an XML document input unit (input unit) 211 that performs input processing on the XML document transferred from the application 100, and a data control unit that controls data exchange between the XML parsing unit 220 and the rendering unit 230. 212 and a print control unit 213 that outputs band data to the printer 3 to perform print processing for each band.

  The XML parsing unit 220 is a part that interprets the XML document, acquires a drawing command representing the drawing content of the XML document, and passes the drawing command obtained by the interpretation to the control unit 210. The XML parsing unit 220 includes a first XML interpretation unit 221 and a second XML interpretation unit 222.

  The second XML interpretation unit 222 performs a process of searching for the rear end position of the description corresponding to the drawing command necessary for drawing the first band (band 0) among the plurality of drawing commands obtained by interpreting the XML document. Do.

  The first XML interpretation unit 221 is a part that interprets an XML document and acquires a drawing command. Therefore, first, the description of the XML document is interpreted in order from the top, and the acquired drawing command is sequentially transferred to the control unit 210. In the following, the interpretation order when interpreting the description of the XML document in order from the top is referred to as “normal order”, and the interpretation order when interpreting in order from the rear end is referred to as “reverse order”.

  In addition, when the second XML interpretation unit 222 finds the rear end position of the description of the first band, the first XML interpretation unit 221 can generate band data of the first band by a drawing command acquired from the description before the rear end position. And processing for sending the start band processing start notification to the effect that the band data generation processing for the first band may be started to the rendering unit 230 via the control unit 210 is performed.

  The rendering unit 230 sequentially develops drawing commands passed from the XML parsing unit 220 via the control unit 210 into bitmap object images, and arranges the developed object images so that the bitmap format image is arranged. A rendering process that generates data is executed. The generated image data is once transferred to the control unit 210 for output to the printer 3.

  In addition, when the rendering unit 230 receives the first band processing start notification from the first XML interpretation unit 221 via the control unit 210, the rendering unit 230 extracts an image of an area corresponding to the first band from the image data image developed at that time. As it is extracted, band data of the first band is generated. Then, after the band data of the first band is transferred to the control unit 210, a rendering process is further performed on the received drawing command to generate band data after the first band, and a process of transferring to the control unit 210 is performed.

  When the control unit 210 receives the band data from the rendering unit 230, the print control unit 213 outputs the band data to the printer 3, and causes the printer 3 to perform print processing such as color conversion and screen processing according to the band data one after another. To do. As a result, the printer 3 prints the entire image to be printed described in the XML document by printing the first band and then printing the bands after the first band one after another.

  Note that part of the printing process, for example, the color conversion process may be performed on the host computer side, and the band data after the color conversion may be output to the printer 3.

  As described above, when the printer driver 200 according to the present embodiment sequentially processes the description of the XML document, the description of the rear end position is processed and the band data of the first band can be generated. The first band data is generated without waiting for the completion of processing for all the drawing commands, and the printer 3 is caused to perform print processing for the first band. In other words, the processing for the leading band is performed with priority over the bands other than the leading band.

  Next, detailed processing performed by the printer driver 200 when an XML document is input will be described in order according to the flowcharts of FIGS. 4 to 7 with reference to FIG. 3 is a diagram showing data movement among the control unit 210, the XML parsing unit 220, and the rendering unit 230. FIG. 4 shows the control unit 210, FIG. 5 shows the second XML interpretation unit 222, and FIG. The first XML interpretation unit 221 and FIG. 7 show the processing procedure performed by the rendering unit 230.

  When the control unit 210 receives the XML document from the application 100, the control unit 210 starts the processing illustrated in FIG. When the processing starts, first, in step S100, the XML document input unit 211 recognizes that the input data is an XML document and performs input processing (see FIG. 3A).

  Next, in step S110, the data control unit 212 delivers the input XML document to the XML parsing unit 220 (see FIG. 3B).

  Here, in actuality, after delivering the XML document, the control unit 210 performs the process of step S120 described later. For convenience of explanation, hereinafter, for the XML document delivered from the control unit 210, The processing performed by the second XML interpretation unit 222 of the XML parsing unit 220 will be described.

  When the XML document is delivered from the data control unit 212 to the XML parsing unit 220, the second XML interpretation unit 222 starts the processing shown in FIG. When the process is started, in step S200, it is determined whether there is an unprocessed description among the descriptions constituting the delivered XML document. If there is an unprocessed description (step S200: Yes), Proceed to step S210. If there is no unprocessed description (step S200: No), the process shown in FIG. 5 is terminated.

  When the processing proceeds to step S210, the second XML interpretation unit 222 interprets (parses) the data of the XML document and acquires the drawing range of the drawing command. Note that the parsing performed here is processing performed in units of drawing commands, and the description of the XML document is processed in order (that is, in reverse order) from the rear end line to the description of the first line. When the drawing range for one drawing command is acquired, the process proceeds to step S220, and the second XML interpretation unit 222 determines whether or not the drawing range of the acquired drawing command is applied to the band region of the first band.

  The processing at this time will be described using the XML document shown in FIG. 8 and the drawing example shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the XML document is configured by describing rendering contents in a tag described for each line and a portion surrounded by the tag. In the example of FIG. 8, according to the line number shown at the left end, the description of the drawing contents is included in the “3” and “4” lines and the “m” and “m + 1” lines.

  Specifically, according to the XML document shown in FIG. 8, the drawing start position A (x = x1, y = y1) is specified by the description of the line number “3”, as shown in FIG. 4 ”from the drawing start position A, one object OB consisting of a line returning to the drawing start position A in order through the positions B (x2, y1), C (x2, y2), and D (x1, y2). The drawing content for drawing (4) is acquired. Similarly, the drawing start position E (x3, y3) is specified by the description of the line number “m”, and from the drawing start position E by the description of the line number “m + 1”, the positions F (x4, y3), G (x4, The drawing content for drawing one object OB (m + 1) consisting of a line passing through y4) and H (x3, y4) in order and returning to the drawing start position E is designated. Therefore, in the Y direction, the drawing range of the object OB (4) is “y1 to y2”, and the drawing range of the object OB (m + 1) is “y3 to y4”.

  Here, if the paper transport direction is the short side direction (X direction) or the long side direction (Y direction) of the paper, but the paper transport direction is the Y direction, the band area has a constant band width in the Y direction. It is divided for each BH, and the range of the leading band (band 0) is “0 to BH” in the Y direction.

  In the determination in step S220, the second XML interpretation unit 222 determines whether the range of the leading band is over the drawing range of the drawing command to be determined, that is, whether there is some overlapping range. To do. For example, as shown in the example of FIG. 9, when “y1, y2, y4> BH> y3”, the object OB (m + 1) in the Y-direction drawing range “y3 to y4” is “y3 to BH”. Partially overlaps the range of the first band. At this time, it is determined that the drawing range of the drawing command for the object OB (m + 1) is over the band area of the leading band. On the other hand, since the drawing range “y1 to y2” of the object OB (4) does not overlap with the range of the leading band, the drawing range of the drawing command of the object OB (4) does not cover the band region of the leading band. To be judged. Thus, if the drawing range is applied to the first band (step S220: Yes), the process proceeds to step S230. If the drawing range is not applied to the first band (step S220: No), the process returns to step S200 to return to the next included in the XML document. Processes the description of the drawing command.

  8 and 9, an example of drawing a graphic object has been described. However, the drawing content of an XML document is not limited to this, and may be an image such as text or bitmap format. .

  When the process proceeds to step S230, the second XML interpreting unit 222 notifies the first XML interpreting unit 221 of the line number in which the drawing command whose drawing range is applied to the first band is described. In the example of FIGS. 8 and 9, the line number of the “m + 1” line, which is the last line of the description of the object OB (m + 1) with overlapping drawing ranges, is notified. Since this line number is the description position of the drawing command relating to the first band found first by parsing in the reverse order, it indicates the end position of the description range of the drawing instruction having the drawing range relating to the first band. When the second XML interpretation unit 222 notifies the line number, the process shown in FIG. 5 is terminated.

  Next, processing performed by the first XML interpretation unit 221 will be described. When the XML document is delivered from the data control unit 212 to the XML parsing unit 220, the first XML interpretation unit 221 starts the processing shown in FIG. When the process is started, first, in step S300, the first XML interpretation unit 221 determines whether or not there is an unprocessed description in the received XML document. If there is an unprocessed description (step S300: Yes), the process proceeds to step S310. If there is no unprocessed description (step S300: No), the process proceeds to step S380.

  When the process proceeds to step S310, the first XML interpretation unit 221 interprets (parses) the description of the XML document in the normal order, and acquires a drawing command. The acquired drawing command is stored in the RAM 22, and an address-designated drawing command indicating the storage destination address of the RAM 22 is transferred to the control unit 210. The parsing performed here is processing performed in units of rendering commands, and the processing described above is performed for one rendering command so that the description of the XML document is processed in order from the first row to the description of the rearmost row. Then, the process proceeds to step S320.

  When the processing proceeds to step S320, the first XML interpretation unit 221 determines whether or not a line number notification is received from the second XML interpretation unit 222. If the line number notification has not been received (step S320: No), the process returns to step S300 to process the next description. If the process of steps S300 and 310 is repeatedly performed and a line number notification is received during the process (step S320: Yes), the process proceeds to step S330.

  When the process proceeds to step S330, the first XML interpretation unit 221 compares the received line number notification line number with the line number already parsed in step S310, and the line number notification line number has been parsed. It is determined whether or not the number is larger. If the line number of the received notification is larger than the parsed line number (step S330: Yes), the process proceeds to step S340, and the description of the XML document is parsed in the normal order as in step S310, and one drawing command is issued. Obtain and pass to the control unit 210. Then, the process returns to step S330 to make a determination again. Parsing is performed up to the description of the line number of the received notification, and if the parsed line number is equal to or greater than the line number of the notification (step S330: No), the process proceeds to step S350. With this determination, at least the description up to the line number of the line number notification has been parsed, and after the drawing command necessary for developing the leading band has been delivered to the control unit 210, the process of step S350 is performed. Will do.

  When the process proceeds to step S350, the first XML interpreting unit 221 has passed the drawing command necessary for developing the leading band to the control unit 210, so the first band processing start notification is sent to the control unit. Deliver to 210.

  Next, in step S360, it is determined whether an unprocessed description still remains in the XML document. If an unprocessed description remains (step S360: Yes), the process proceeds to step S370, the XML document is parsed in the normal order, the obtained one drawing command is transferred to the control unit 210, and the process returns to step S360. In this way, the process is repeated until the drawing commands for all the descriptions in the XML document are transferred. When the process is performed for all the descriptions (step S360: No), the process proceeds to step S380.

  When the process proceeds from step S300 or step S360 to step S380, the first XML interpretation unit 221 passes the data end notification to the control unit 210 because the parsing / drawing command has been passed for all the descriptions of the XML document. Then, the process shown in FIG.

  As described above, in the XML parsing unit 220, the second XML interpretation unit 222 searches for the end position of the description portion of the rendering command having the rendering range related to the head band from the XML document. The first XML interpreting unit 221 controls the start band processing start notification at the timing when the description up to the end position is processed while interpreting the description of the XML document and sequentially passing drawing commands to the control unit 210. It passes to the part 210. Further, at the timing when the XML document is received, the processing performed by the first XML interpretation unit 221 and the processing performed by the second XML interpretation unit 222 are started in parallel. Then, after the processing start notification of the first band, an unprocessed description of the XML document is interpreted and a drawing command is transferred. When all the descriptions have been processed, a data end notification is transferred to the control unit 210.

  Next, returning to the flowchart of FIG. 4, a processing procedure performed when the control unit 210 receives data from the XML parsing unit 220 will be described.

  The control unit 210 starts the process of step S120 at the timing when the XML document input process (steps S100 and S110) is completed. In step S120, the data control unit 212 continues to determine whether data has been received from the XML parsing unit 220 by monitoring the data delivered from the XML parsing unit 220. If data has not been received (step S120: No), monitoring is continued by performing the process of step S120 again. When data is received from the XML parsing unit 220 (step S120: Yes), the process proceeds to step S130.

  When the process proceeds to step S130, the data control unit 212 determines whether the received data is a drawing command. If the received data is a drawing command (step S130: Yes), the process proceeds to step S140. If it is not a drawing command (step S130: No), the process proceeds to step S150.

  When the process proceeds to step S140, the data control unit 212 accesses the address-designated RAM 22 indicated by the drawing command, reads the actual data of the drawing command (see FIG. 3 (7)), and the actual data of the drawing command. Is transferred to the rendering unit 230 (see FIG. 3 (8)).

  When the drawing command is transferred to the rendering unit 230 in step S140, the data control unit 212 continues to monitor the data transmitted from the XML parsing unit 220 next so that the process returns to step S120.

  If the data received in the process of step S130 is not a drawing command (step S130: No), the process proceeds to step S150, and it is determined whether the received data is a process start notification for the first band. If it is a processing start notification (step S150: Yes), the process proceeds to step S160, and the processing start notification of the first band is transferred to the rendering unit 230 (see FIG. 3 (9)). When the processing start notification for the first band is delivered, the process returns to step S120, and the data control unit 212 continues to monitor the data transmitted from the XML parsing unit 220 next.

  If the data received in the process of step S150 is not the start band process start notification (step S150: No), the process proceeds to step S170 to determine whether the received data is a data end notification. . If the received data is not a data end notification (step S170: No), the process returns to step S120 to continue monitoring the data. If it is a data end notification (step S170: Yes), the process proceeds to step S180, and the data end notification indicating that the transmission of the rendering command for the XML document has ended is delivered to the rendering unit 230 and then shown in FIG. The process ends.

  As described above, the control unit 210 performs a process of sequentially transferring the address-designated drawing commands received from the XML parsing unit 220 one after another to the rendering unit 230 by replacing the actual data. In addition, when the processing start notification or the data end notification of the leading band is received from the XML parsing unit 220, a process of passing the received notification to the rendering unit 230 is performed.

  Next, the processing procedure performed by the rendering unit 230 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  When the processing shown in FIG. 7 is started, in step S400, the rendering unit 230 determines whether or not data has been received from the control unit 210. If no new data has been received (step S400: No), a predetermined time period is reached. After the elapse of time, the determination in step S400 is performed again, and if new data has been received, the process proceeds to step S410 (step S400: Yes).

  When the process proceeds to step S410, the rendering unit 230 determines whether the received data is a drawing command. If it is a drawing command (step S410: Yes), the process proceeds to step S420. If it is not a drawing command (step S410: No), the process proceeds to step S430.

  When the process proceeds to step S420, the rendering unit 230 expands the received drawing command. Then, the developed object image is arranged at the drawing start position of the received drawing command, and processing for embedding the object image in the bitmap format image data is performed. By this rendering process, image data reflecting a rendering command to be processed is obtained. When the rendering process is performed, the process returns to step S410 to perform the process for the next received data, and sequentially perform the rendering process for the drawing commands that are successively transferred.

  In step S410, if the received data is not a drawing command (step S410: No), the process proceeds to step S430, and it is determined whether the received data is a processing start notification for the first band. If it is the processing start notification of the first band (step S430: Yes), the process proceeds to step S440. If it is not a drawing command (step S430: No), the process proceeds to step S460.

  When the processing proceeds to step S440, the rendering unit 230 has performed rendering processing for all the drawing commands necessary for developing the head band by the rendering processing of step S420. Generate band data for a band. In step S450, the band data of the leading band is transferred to the control unit 210. The print control unit 213 of the control unit 210 transmits the band data of the first band to the printer 3 via the communication I / F 26, so that the host computer 2 causes the printer 3 to start the first band printing process. When the rendering unit 230 delivers the band data of the first band, the rendering unit 230 returns to step S410 and processes the next received data.

  If the data received in step S430 is not a processing start notification for the first band (step S430: No), the process proceeds to step S460, and the rendering unit 230 determines whether the received data is a data end notification. Judging. If it is not a data end notification (step S460: No), the process returns to step S410, and the next received data is processed.

  If the received data is a data end notification (step S460: Yes), image data corresponding to the entire XML document is obtained by sequentially performing the rendering processing in step S420 on the rendering commands received one after another from the control unit 210. Since it has been generated, the process proceeds to step S470, where the image of the generated image data is divided for each band, and band data for each band after the first band is generated. Then, the band data generated in step S480 is successively transferred to the control unit 210, and when the transfer is completed, the processing shown in FIG. The print control unit 213 of the control unit 210 transmits the passed band data to the printer 3 one after another via the communication I / F 26, thereby performing print processing for each band after the first band on the printer 3 one after another. Make it. As a result, print processing for all bands is performed, and printing corresponding to the XML document is performed.

  Note that the processes in steps S100 and S110 are the input process, the processes in steps S300 to S380 are the first interpretation process, the processes in steps S200 to S230 are the second interpretation process, and the processes in steps S420 and S440 are the first. The first development process, the processes in steps S420 and S470 correspond to the second development process, and the processes in steps S450 and S480 correspond to the print control process.

  As described above, in this embodiment, before developing drawing commands for bands other than the first band, the drawing commands necessary for drawing the first band are developed to generate band data for the first band. The printer 3 is started to print the first band. Then, after the generation of the band data of the first band, the drawing commands for the bands other than the first band are developed, and the band data after the first band are sequentially sent to the printer 3.

  Hereinafter, effects of the present embodiment will be described.

  (1) Since the printer 3 can start the printing process at the timing of step S450 in which the band data of the first band is received, the band data is generated after all drawing commands obtained from the description of the XML object are expanded. Compared to the conventional processing method that needs to be performed, the timing for starting the print processing of the first band can be advanced. Then, while the printer 3 is executing the printing process for the first band, the printer driver 200 starts a process for further developing drawing commands for the bands after the first band and generating band data for the first band and the subsequent bands. Therefore, the printing process corresponding to the XML document can be completed at an earlier timing. As a result, the waiting time until the printing is completed for the user is shortened, and the convenience for the user is improved.

  (2) When the second XML interpretation unit 222 detects the line number at the rear end position of the description of the drawing command having the drawing range applied to the first band, the first XML interpretation unit 221 receives the notification of the line number, Interpret the description ahead of the position. At this time, since the processing performed by the first XML interpretation unit 221 and the processing performed by the second XML interpretation unit 222 are executed in parallel, the first XML interpretation unit 221 is also in progress while the second XML interpretation unit 222 is searching for the rear end position. Obtains drawing commands one after another by interpreting the description. As a result, the processing efficiency increases, and printing can be started at an earlier timing.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Hereinafter, a modification will be described.

  (Modification 1) In the above embodiment, the printer driver 200 on the host computer side as the print control apparatus performs the parsing and rendering processing, but the present invention is not limited to this mode. For example, a parsing process may be performed on the host computer side and a rendering process may be performed on the printer side. That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, the printing system 1 includes a host computer 2 including a printer driver 200 having a control unit 210 and an XML parsing unit 220, a rendering unit 230, a print processing unit 300, and a print engine. And a printer 3 having 310.

  In this printing system 1, the control unit 210 delivers the line number notification from the XML parsing unit 220 to the printer 3 through the communication I / F 26, and when the rendering unit 230 on the printer 3 receives the line number notification, The band data of the first band is generated by performing a rendering process in accordance with the drawing command received. When the band data of the first band is transferred to the print processing unit 300 and the print process is started, the band data of each band is generated by sequentially performing the rendering process according to the drawing command received next from the host computer 2. The print processing unit 300 performs print processing according to the band data. The print processing unit 300 converts the band data into an image signal corresponding to the print engine 310, and the print engine 310 performs printing according to the image signal. As a result, the timing at which the print processing unit 300 starts the printing process is advanced, and the waiting time until the printing is completed can be shortened.

  Further, a system having a configuration of a print control apparatus on the printer side may be used. That is, as shown in FIG. 10B, the printer 3 includes an XML parsing unit 220, a rendering unit 230, a print processing unit 300, and a print engine 310. The host computer 2 may send print data including an XML document to the printer 3 so that the pudding 3 having the XML parsing unit 220 and the rendering unit 230 performs parsing and rendering.

  (Modification 2) In the above embodiment, the first band is processed as the first band, but the processing order of the printing process may be processed from a first number of bands as the first band. At this time, the same processing as in the above embodiment may be performed by searching for the rear end position of the description of the drawing command applied to a predetermined number of bands from the top.

  (Modification 3) In the embodiment described above, in the example of FIG. 9, band 0 is set as the first band because a part of the object is drawn in band 0. However, printing processing is performed for a band in which no object is drawn. Since there is no such thing, the first band including the object should be the first band. For example, when an object is drawn for the first time in band n without drawing an object in bands 0 to n-1, band n is processed as the first band. At this time, since it is not necessary to perform the rendering process for the band before the first band, in the process of step S440, in addition to the band data of the first band, the band before the first band where no object is drawn is displayed. The band data may be transferred to the control unit 210 and output to the printer 3.

  (Modification 4) In the embodiment described above, the description range necessary for the processing of the head band is specified by obtaining the rear end position of the description corresponding to the head band, but the head position of the description corresponding to the head band is obtained. The description range may be specified. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the XML parsing unit 220 of the printer driver 200 according to the fourth modification example has a third XML interpretation unit 223 in addition to the first XML interpretation unit 221 and the second XML interpretation unit 222. ing. The third XML interpretation unit 223 interprets the description of the XML document in order from the top (that is, in the normal order), and searches for the top position of the description corresponding to the rendering command necessary for rendering the top band. At this time, the first XML interpretation unit 221 starts interpretation from the description of the head position searched by the third XML interpretation unit 222 and interprets up to the description of the rear end position searched by the second XML interpretation unit 223. Generate band data for the first band. In this way, by specifying and preferentially processing before and after the description necessary for drawing the first band, the amount of processing required to process the first band is further reduced, so that the print start timing can be further advanced. Can do.

  (Modification 5) The data format after expansion is not limited to the bitmap format. For example, in the case of a printing system that delivers intermediate code data indicating a drawing command for drawing content for each band, the rendering unit 230 expands the drawing command into intermediate code data (image data). At this time, the printer 3 may process the received intermediate code data by sequentially performing printing processing such as rendering processing, color conversion processing, and screen processing.

  (Modification 6) In the above embodiment, an example of processing data in XML format has been described. However, data described in a markup language such as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) or XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) is processed. You may do it.

  (Modification 7) The present invention is not limited to a printer, but can also be applied to a copying machine or a fax machine.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a printing system according to an embodiment. The block diagram which showed the functional structure of the host computer. Explanatory drawing explaining the movement of the data in a printer driver. The flowchart which showed the process sequence which a control part performs. The flowchart which showed the process sequence which a 2nd XML interpretation part performs. The flowchart which showed the process sequence which a 1st XML interpretation part performs. The flowchart which showed the process sequence which a rendering part performs. The figure which showed an example of the XML document. The figure which showed the example of drawing according to a drawing command. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating a 1st modification, (a), (b) is a figure showing an example of a modification. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating a 4th modification. Explanatory drawing for demonstrating a band.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing system, 2 ... Host computer as printing control apparatus, 3 ... Printer as printing apparatus, 4 ... Network server, 5 ... CD-ROM as recording medium, 20 ... CPU, 21 ... ROM, 22 ... RAM, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 23 ... Hard disk, 24 ... CD-ROM drive, 25 ... Network interface, 26 ... Communication interface, 100 ... Application, 200 ... Printer driver, 210 ... Control part, 211 ... XML document input part as an input means, 212 ... Data control 213... Print control unit as print control means, 220... XML parsing section, 221... First XML interpretation section as first interpretation means, 222... Second XML interpretation section as second interpretation means, 230. Rendering unit as means, 300 ... print processing unit, 10 ... the print engine.

Claims (11)

A printing control apparatus that causes a printing apparatus to sequentially execute a printing process for each band obtained by dividing an image to be printed into a predetermined height,
Input means for receiving input data describing the image to be printed in a markup language;
First interpretation means for sequentially interpreting descriptions of the input data and sequentially obtaining drawing commands for drawing the image to be printed;
Second interpretation means for interpreting the description of the input data and identifying a description range of the input data necessary for the print processing of the leading band in which the execution order of the printing processing is a band from the beginning to a predetermined number of bands; ,
The drawing command acquired from the description of the specified description range is expanded to generate the band data of the first band, and then the drawing command acquired from the description other than the specified description range is further expanded. Expansion means for generating band data after the first band;
When the band data is generated, the printing control apparatus includes a printing control unit that causes the printing apparatus to perform a printing process according to the band data. The print control apparatus according to claim 1,
The second interpreting means interprets the description of the input data, searches for a rear end position of a description corresponding to a drawing command having a drawing range applied to a leading band,
The expansion means sequentially expands drawing commands acquired from a description preceding the rear end position in the input data from the rear end position to generate band data of the first band, and then generates the first band data from the rear end position. A print control apparatus that generates band data after the first band in such a manner that a drawing command acquired from a description in the rear is sequentially expanded. The print control apparatus according to claim 2,
The processing performed by the first interpretation means and the processing performed by the second interpretation means are executed in parallel.
The expansion means sequentially expands the drawing commands acquired by the first interpretation means until the second interpretation means finds the rear end position, and the second interpretation means finds the rear end position. A print control apparatus for generating band data of the leading band after the first time. The print control apparatus according to claim 3,
The print control apparatus, wherein the second interpreter interprets the description of the input data in an order reverse to the order of interpretation performed by the first interpreter. The print control apparatus according to claim 3 or 4,
When the second interpreting means detects the rear end position, the unfolding means obtains the drawing instruction that the first interpreting means acquires when the drawing instruction corresponding to the description of the rear end position is not developed. One after another, the print control device generates band data of the head band at a timing when a drawing command corresponding to the description of the rear end position is developed. The print control apparatus according to any one of claims 3 to 5,
If the drawing command corresponding to the description of the rear end position has already been developed when the second interpretation unit detects the rear end position, the expansion means starts the drawing band from the already developed drawing command. A print control apparatus for generating band data for the print. The print control apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The print control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the markup language is one of XML, HTML, and XHTML. A printing system comprising: a printing apparatus; and a printing control apparatus that causes the printing apparatus to sequentially execute a printing process performed for each band obtained by dividing an image to be printed into a predetermined height.
The print control device includes:
Input means for receiving input data describing the image to be printed in a markup language;
First interpretation means for sequentially interpreting descriptions of the input data and sequentially obtaining drawing commands for drawing the image to be printed;
Second interpretation means for interpreting the description of the input data and identifying a description range of the input data necessary for the print processing of the leading band in which the execution order of the printing processing is a band from the beginning to a predetermined number of bands; With
The printing apparatus includes:
The drawing command acquired from the description of the specified description range is expanded to generate the band data of the first band, and then the drawing command acquired from the description other than the specified description range is further expanded. Expansion means for generating band data after the first band;
A printing system comprising: a print processing unit that executes a print process according to the band data when the band data is generated. A printing apparatus control method for causing a printing apparatus to sequentially perform printing processing for each band obtained by dividing an image to be printed into a predetermined height,
An input step of receiving input data describing the image to be printed in a markup language;
A first interpretation step of sequentially interpreting the description of the input data and sequentially obtaining drawing commands for drawing the image to be printed;
A second interpretation step of interpreting the description of the input data and specifying a description range of the input data necessary for the print processing of the leading band in which the execution order of the printing processing is a band from the beginning to a predetermined number of bands; ,
A first expansion step of expanding a drawing command acquired from the description of the specified description range to generate band data of the first band;
A second expansion step of further expanding a drawing command acquired from a description outside the specified description range to generate band data after the first band;
A printing apparatus control method comprising: a printing control step for causing the printing apparatus to perform a printing process according to the band data when the band data is generated. A driver program for causing a printing apparatus to sequentially execute a printing process for each band obtained by dividing an image to be printed into a predetermined height,
Computer
Input means for receiving input data describing the image to be printed in a markup language;
First interpretation means for sequentially interpreting descriptions of the input data and sequentially obtaining drawing commands for drawing the image to be printed;
Second interpretation means for interpreting the description of the input data and specifying a description range of the input data necessary for the print processing of the leading band, in which the execution order of the printing processing is a band from the top to a predetermined number;
The drawing command acquired from the description of the specified description range is expanded to generate the band data of the first band, and then the drawing command acquired from the description other than the specified description range is further expanded. Expansion means for generating band data after the first band,
When the band data is generated, print control is performed such that the band data is sequentially supplied to the printing apparatus via a communication unit that performs communication with the printing apparatus, and the printing apparatus performs a printing process according to the band data. A driver program that functions as means. A computer-readable recording medium on which the driver program according to claim 10 is recorded.

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