JP2008290397A - Drawing processor, pdl processor, image forming apparatus, drawing command generation method, drawing command generation program and recording medium recorded with drawing command generation program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drawing processor capable of flexibly dealing with the specification change of a drawing part or a drawing processing part and enhancing maintainability and portability. <P>SOLUTION: The drawing processor 24 comprises: a PDL (Page Description Language) interpretation means 14 which extracts drawing information for every one or more drawing attributes among graphic, text, image and color by interpreting a PDL data; and a drawing means 23 which receives a drawing command from the drawing processor 24 and plots the drawing command based on the drawing information abstracted by the PDL interpretation means 14, wherein the drawing command to be delivered to the drawing means 23 is produced by the drawing processor 24. Further, the drawing processor 24 comprises: a drawing processing means 15 which produces a plurality of conversion drawing information corresponding to processing ability of the drawing means 23 based on the drawing information abstracted by the PDL interpretation means 14; and a drawing command conversion means 25 for converting the conversion drawing information corresponding to the processing ability of the drawing means 23 which receives a drawing command from the drawing processor 24 and plots the drawing command among the plurality of conversion drawing information produced by the drawing processing means 15, to the drawing command. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a drawing processing device, a PDL processing device, an image forming device, a drawing command generation method, a drawing command generation program, and a recording medium on which a drawing command generation program is recorded.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an image forming apparatus such as a printer converts PDL data described in PDL (Page Description Language) into high-level drawing information and converts it to low-level drawing information. Generate an image and form an image.

  Here, the high level drawing information and the low level drawing information will be described. The high-level drawing information is drawing information that is close to the command from the host, such as parameters necessary for the drawing command, and requires a lot of conversion until the final bitmap image. The low level drawing information is drawing information that can be easily developed into a final bitmap image. Specific examples of these high-level drawing information and low-level drawing information will be described later.

  An example of a PDL processing unit that performs processing related to PDL data first is shown in FIG. The PDL processing unit 11 shown in FIG. 1 interprets PDL data and writes a bitmap image of a page image generated by drawing processing according to the description to a frame memory or the like.

  The PDL processing unit 11 includes a PDL interpretation unit 14, a drawing processing unit 15, a DL (Display List) generation unit 20, and a DL drawing unit 21.

  The PDL interpretation unit 14 interprets and analyzes codes (PDL data) described in PDL such as PostScript and PCL (Printer Control Language), and performs high-level graphics, text, image, and color drawing attributes (drawing components). Extract level drawing information.

  The drawing processing unit 15 performs drawing processing based on the high-level drawing information extracted by the PDL interpretation unit 14 and converts it into low-level drawing information. In general, this conversion process is complicated, and the time required for the process occupies a large proportion of the total processing time required by the PDL processing unit 11.

  The drawing processing unit 15 includes a graphic processing unit 16, a text processing unit 17, an image processing unit 18, and a color processing unit 19. These processing units convert the high-level drawing information extracted by the PDL interpretation unit 14 into low-level drawing information for drawing attributes corresponding to the processing units. Specific processing contents of these processing units will be described later.

  The DL generation unit 20 converts the low-level drawing information converted by the drawing processing unit 15 into drawing data in an intermediate storage data format called DL, and accumulates one or more pages of DL in the RAM.

  Since DL is information (low level) that can be easily developed into a final bitmap image written in the frame memory, its data amount is much larger than that of high-level drawing information, and is equivalent to one or more pages. Often, the amount of memory for storing DL data is required in units of megabytes.

  The DL rendering unit 21 reads the DL stored in the RAM, performs pattern processing, gradation conversion, mask (CLIP), ROP (Raster OPeration), and the like to generate a final bitmap image, and Write to memory.

  Note that tone conversion refers to processing for converting high-gradation pixel values into low-gradation pixel values by dithering or error diffusion techniques. ROP refers to logical operation processing when the pixel values of the source, destination, and pattern are superimposed.

  Also, depending on the apparatus, in order to reduce the memory amount, the DL rendering unit 21 performs the above-described processing for a region called a band obtained by dividing the frame memory for one page into strips parallel to the main scanning direction. is there.

  Here, processing contents executed by each processing unit of the drawing processing unit 15 and specific examples of the high-level drawing information and the low-level drawing information will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the processing contents of the graphic processing unit 16 are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the graphic processing unit 16 generates images, graphics, etc., such as path generation, coordinate conversion, straight line segmentation (straight line approximation), straight line contour path generation, scanning line conversion, rectangle / trapezoid extraction, etc. Processing related to display and processing is performed.

  Next, the processing contents of the text processing unit 17 are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the text processing unit 17 performs processing such as acquisition of character outline data (a sequence of coordinates of straight line end points and curve control points) from outline font data, and painting by graphic processing. Outline font data is one of the data formats for representing character shapes on a computer.

  The processing content of the image processing unit 18 is shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the image processing unit 18 performs processing related to the image image such as data decompression, rotation, scaling, color conversion by the color processing unit 19, and gradation conversion (dither, error diffusion). .

  The processing contents of the color processing unit 19 are shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the color processing unit 19 performs color matching, complementary color conversion (conversion from RGB to CMY), black correction (BG) / under color removal (UCR) / gray conversion, CIE to XYZ intermediate color conversion, Color processing such as XYZ to CMYK rendering color conversion, gamma correction, and total amount regulation is performed.

  Next, an example of DL will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 shows a DL for displaying the rectangle 503. This DL consists of upper left coordinates 501 and lower right coordinates 502. FIG. 7 shows a DL for displaying the trapezoid 517. This DL includes an upper side y-coordinate 511, left and right x-coordinates 512, a height 513, and a change amount 514 per left and right pixels. The amount of change 514 per pixel on the left and right corresponds to the slope, as shown in the enlarged views 515 and 516. FIG. 8 shows a DL for displaying a run 523. This DL is composed of the y coordinate of the run, the coordinates at which the run is started, and the coordinates at the end.

  The DL shown in FIGS. 6, 7, and 8 is an example of a graphic DL. Next, an example of text DL will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 shows a DL for displaying the text 536. This DL includes an upper left coordinate 531, a width 532, a height 533, the number of bytes 534 in one row, and bitmap data 535.

  Next, an example of an image DL will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 shows a DL for displaying an image 548 composed of CMYK. The DL includes an upper left coordinate 541, a width 542, a height 543, the number of bytes 544 in one line, the total number of bytes 545, a color format 546, and bitmap data 547.

  Next, an example of color DL will be described with reference to FIG. This DL is composed of a Cyan component 551, a Magenta component 552, a Yellow component 553, and a K component 554.

  The above is an example of each DL. By the way, based on a certain level of drawing information, software that can perform drawing processing and writing to the frame memory at a higher speed by using a better algorithm method than before and a drawing accelerator implemented in hardware by ASIC etc. Hardware modules, hardware modules, or combinations thereof have been developed. Hereinafter, such a module is referred to as a high-performance rendering unit and corresponds to a bitmap image generation unit.

  FIG. 12 shows a conventional example in which the high-performance rendering unit is incorporated in the PDL processing unit 11 in order to increase the speed of the existing PDL processing unit 11. The difference from FIG. 1 is that a drawing command conversion unit 22 and a high performance drawing unit 23 are added instead of the DL drawing unit 21 of FIG.

  Such a configuration is stored in the intermediate storage data format in FIG. 1 because of the ease of incorporation when using a high-performance rendering unit (the effort of modification, the number of man-hours and the range of influence of the modification). This is because the drawing command conversion unit 22 and the high-performance drawing unit 23 that read out the DL, convert it to a drawing command (data) that can be received by the high-performance drawing unit 23, and the high-performance drawing unit 23 are replaced with the conventional DL drawing unit 21.

  On the other hand, the drawing information that can be processed by such a high-performance drawing unit 23 has been mostly low-level drawing information so far, but recently, with the improvement in performance, high-level drawing information is also included. . As a result, things that can be processed at high speed have begun to appear.

  Examples of drawing commands supported by the high-performance drawing unit 23 and information used for the commands are shown in FIGS. The drawing commands shown in FIGS. 13 to 16 are expressed in C or C ++ language. FIG. 13 shows a drawing command for drawing a square. This drawing command is expressed by a function including the coordinates of two vertices on the diagonal as arguments. FIG. 14 shows a drawing command for painting a square in blue and a triangle in red. The four lines of code following the variable declaration are drawing instructions for drawing a square in which the first two lines are filled with blue, and the drawing instruction for drawing a triangle in which the next two lines are filled with red.

FIG. 15 shows a drawing command for drawing an image. This drawing command is expressed by a function including as arguments the width of the input image and the coordinates of the two vertices on the diagonal line of the output image. FIG. 16 shows a drawing command for drawing characters. In this drawing command, the first line is a function including a character size or font as an argument, and the second line is a function including a character code as an argument.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-034636

  However, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, the drawing processing unit 15 provides several conversion levels to convert from high-level drawing information to lower-level drawing information, and the drawing command conversion unit 22 has a high conversion level. It was converted into a drawing command that can be input by the performance drawing unit 23 and passed to the high-performance drawing unit 23 (see FIG. 12).

  Here, each processing unit of the drawing processing unit 15, that is, the graphic processing unit 16, the text processing unit 17, the image processing unit 18, and the color processing unit 19 grasps the drawing command specifications supported by the high-performance drawing unit 23. However, it was necessary to convert the data into a format according to the specification and issue an instruction.

  Therefore, for example, when the high-performance drawing unit 23 is modified and the specifications of the drawing command are changed, or when it is necessary to operate with a high-performance drawing unit that is completely different from the conventional one, It was necessary to directly change the drawing processing unit itself in accordance with the change.

  However, since the drawing processing unit is usually a core part of the PDL processing unit, the scale is large and the processing procedure is complicated. Therefore, the risk of the change tends to be large and the efficiency of the change tends to deteriorate. That is, the configuration of the prior art has a problem in maintainability (maintainability) and portability (portability).

  The present invention has been invented in order to solve this problem in view of the above points, and can flexibly cope with changes in the specifications of the drawing unit and the drawing processing unit, and maintainability (maintenability) and portability ( An object of the present invention is to provide a drawing processing device, a PDL processing device, an image forming device, a drawing command generation method, a drawing command generation program, and a recording medium on which a drawing command generation program is recorded.

  In order to achieve the above object, the drawing processing apparatus of the present invention includes a PDL interpretation unit that interprets PDL data and extracts drawing information for each drawing attribute of one or more of graphics, text, images, and colors. A drawing processing device for generating a drawing command to be transferred to the drawing device for receiving a drawing command from the drawing processing device and drawing based on the drawing information extracted by the PDL interpretation device, Based on the extracted drawing information, drawing processing means for generating a plurality of converted drawing information corresponding to the processing capability of the drawing means, and the drawing processing device among the plurality of converted drawing information generated by the drawing processing means It is configured to have conversion drawing information corresponding to the processing capability of the drawing means for drawing upon receiving a drawing command, and drawing command conversion means for converting the drawing instruction into a drawing command Door can be.

  In order to achieve the above object, the drawing processing means of the present invention includes graphic drawing information generating means corresponding to graphics drawing information, text drawing information generating means corresponding to text drawing information, and an image. One or more of image drawing information generating means corresponding to the drawing information and color drawing information generating means corresponding to the color drawing information can be included.

  In order to achieve the above object, the drawing processing means of the present invention can be configured to generate a plurality of converted drawing information for each drawing attribute.

  In order to achieve the above object, a PDL processing device of the present invention includes the above drawing processing device and a drawing unit that outputs a bitmap image based on the drawing command converted by the drawing command conversion unit. It can be constituted as follows.

  In order to achieve the above object, an image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the PDL processing apparatus, a print engine unit that forms an image based on a bitmap image output by the PDL processing apparatus, and the PDL. A control unit for controlling the processing device and the print engine unit may be provided.

  In order to achieve the above object, a drawing command generation method according to the present invention generates a drawing command that receives a drawing command from the drawing processing device based on the PDL data and transfers the drawing command to a drawing unit. A drawing command generation method in which the PDL data is interpreted to extract drawing information for each drawing attribute of one or more of graphics, text, images, and colors, and extracted in the PDL interpretation step A drawing processing step of generating a plurality of converted drawing information corresponding to the processing capability of the drawing means based on the drawn drawing information, and drawing from the drawing processing device among the plurality of converted drawing information generated in the drawing processing step A drawing command conversion step for converting the conversion drawing information corresponding to the processing capability of the drawing means for drawing upon receiving the command into a drawing command. It can be.

  In order to achieve the above object, the drawing processing step of the present invention includes a graphic drawing information generation step corresponding to graphics drawing information, a text drawing information generation step corresponding to text drawing information, and an image. The image drawing information generation process corresponding to the drawing information of the color and the color drawing information generation process corresponding to the color drawing information can be included.

  In order to achieve the above object, the drawing processing step of the present invention can be configured to generate a plurality of converted drawing information for each drawing attribute.

  In order to achieve the above object, the drawing command generation program of the present invention can be configured to cause a computer to execute processing relating to each means of the above drawing processing apparatus.

  In order to achieve the above object, the recording medium of the present invention can be configured to record the drawing command generation program.

  According to the present invention, a drawing processing apparatus, a PDL processing apparatus, an image forming apparatus, and a drawing command generation that flexibly cope with specification changes of a drawing section and a drawing processing section and improve maintainability (maintenability) and portability (portability). A method, a drawing command generation program, and a recording medium on which the drawing command generation program is recorded can be provided.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings in the following embodiments. In the best mode for carrying out the present invention, a general MFP (Multi Function Printer) will be described as an example of an image forming apparatus. However, the image forming apparatus is not limited to this case.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

(Device configuration)
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 17, an image forming apparatus 1 includes an operation panel 2, a host I / F device 3, a print engine device 4, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 5, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 6, a frame memory 7, and a nonvolatile storage device. 8, a drawing accelerator 9 and a controller device 10. Further, it is connected to a host computer 13 which is a general computer device via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network).

  The operation panel 2 is composed of, for example, a touch panel and is an interface device with a user including an input unit and a display unit. The host I / F device 3 is an interface device with the host computer 13. For example, a code (PDL data) described in PDL such as PostScript or PCL is received from the host computer 13. The print engine device 4 is an engine device that actually prints on paper.

  The ROM 5 is a storage device that stores a program of the image forming apparatus 1 and the like. The RAM 6 is a storage device in which programs and image data are developed. The frame memory 7 is a dedicated storage device that is used to store display image data such as the bitmap image described above.

  The nonvolatile storage device 8 is a storage device that stores various settings of the image forming apparatus 1, for example. The drawing accelerator 9 is hardware that performs drawing processing at high speed. For example, a video chip that is responsible for screen display in a computer has a function of performing a drawing process in place of a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

  The controller device 10 is a control device such as a CPU that performs overall control of the image forming apparatus 1. The overall control of the image forming apparatus 1 is performed according to the program of the image forming apparatus 1 stored in the RAM 6. The controller device 10 includes a PDL processing unit 11 and a device control unit 12. The PDL processing unit 11 interprets the PDL data transmitted from the host computer 13 and generates a bitmap image of a page image for printing by performing drawing processing based on the description content (drawing information). For example, processing related to PDL data is performed. Also, the processed information is written into the frame memory 7 via the device control unit 12.

  With the apparatus configuration described above, the image forming apparatus 1 performs printing with, for example, the print engine apparatus 4 according to an instruction from the host computer 13 connected via, for example, a network.

(Details of PDL processing unit)
Next, details of the PDL processing unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 18, the PDL processing unit 11 includes an image processing device 24 and a high-performance drawing unit 23. Further, the image processing device 24 includes a PDL interpretation unit 14 and a drawing processing unit 15.

  The PDL interpretation unit 14 interprets and analyzes codes (PDL data) described in PDL such as PostScript and PCL, and extracts high-level drawing information about graphics, text, image, and color drawing attributes (drawing components). To do. The high-level drawing information here is drawing information that is close to the command from the host, such as the parameters necessary for generating the drawing command as described above, and requires a lot of conversion until the final bitmap image. .

  The drawing processing unit 15 performs predetermined drawing processing based on the high-level drawing information extracted by the PDL interpretation unit 14. The predetermined drawing processing is image processing performed for each drawing attribute such as graphic processing, text processing, image processing, and color processing. Further, a drawing command is generated after the drawing process is executed. Further, the generated drawing command is passed to the high performance drawing unit 23. The drawing processing unit 15 includes a graphic processing unit (graphic drawing information generation unit) 16, a text processing unit (text drawing information generation unit) 17, an image processing unit (image drawing information generation unit) 18, and a color processing unit. (Color drawing information generating means) 19 and the like.

  The graphic processing unit 16 in the present embodiment performs all or part of the conversion processing shown in FIG. 2 on the high-level drawing information received from the PDL interpretation unit 14 (the conversion processing shown in FIG. 2). Including the case of not implementing everything). Further, the plurality of processed drawing information is converted into a plurality of drawing commands corresponding to the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23.

  Accordingly, the drawing processing unit 15 can pass a graphic drawing command generated based on a plurality of drawing information including high-level drawing information to the high-performance drawing unit 23. The high-level drawing information here includes, for example, straight lines, polygons, curve control points and parameters expressing the contour shape of the figure, the drawing method of the figure (whether the inside of the outline is painted, the outline is drawn as a line, Parameters for designating a clip region, etc.), parameters for designating drawing attributes (line width, line type, end point shape, connection shape, paint rule, paint pattern, etc.), and the like.

  Next, the text processing unit 17 will be described. The text processing unit 17 performs all or part of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 3 on the high-level drawing information received from the PDL interpretation unit 14 (when not performing all of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 3). Also included). Further, the plurality of processed drawing information is converted into a plurality of drawing commands corresponding to the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23.

  As a result, the drawing processing unit 15 can pass a drawing command for text generated based on a plurality of drawing information including high-level drawing information to the high-performance drawing unit 23. The high-level drawing information here is, for example, a parameter for specifying a typeface ID, a character ID, drawing attributes (character size, drawing start position, style, rotation angle, special effects such as white shading), and the like. .

  Next, the image processing unit 18 will be described. The image processing unit 18 performs all or part of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 4 on the high-level drawing information received from the PDL interpretation unit 14 (when not performing all of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 4). Also included). Furthermore, it converts into a plurality of drawing commands corresponding to the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23 based on the plurality of drawing information after processing.

  Thereby, the drawing processing unit 15 can pass to the high-performance drawing unit 23 an image drawing command generated based on a plurality of drawing information including high-level drawing information. Here, the high-level drawing information is, for example, high gradation bitmap data, compression method, parameters for specifying drawing attributes (bitmap width, height, drawing start position, rotation angle, scaling factor, etc.), and the like. .

  Next, the color processing unit 19 will be described. The color processing unit 19 performs all or part of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 5 on the high-level drawing information received from the PDL interpretation unit 14 (when not performing all of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 5). Also included). Furthermore, it converts into a plurality of drawing commands corresponding to the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23 based on the plurality of drawing information after processing.

  Accordingly, the drawing processing unit 15 can pass a color drawing command generated based on a plurality of drawing information including high-level drawing information to the high-performance drawing unit 23. The high-level drawing information here includes, for example, a parameter for designating a specific color in RGB, CMY, CMYK, or CIE color space with high gradation, a parameter for designating gradation, and a color conversion attribute (color matching, BG / UCR / (γ, total amount regulation, gradation conversion, etc.).

(Outline of the drawing processing unit 15)
Subsequently, prior to describing the details of each processing unit (graphic processing unit 16, text processing unit 17, image processing unit 18, color processing unit 19) of the drawing processing unit 15, each processing unit performs high-level drawing. It will be described that information can be converted into a plurality of pieces of converted drawing information (a plurality of levels of conversion level drawing information).

  The plurality of converted drawing information includes, for example, high level drawing information, semi-high level drawing information, medium level drawing information, and low level drawing information. The high level drawing information is drawing information that has not been subjected to conversion processing, for example. The quasi-high level drawing information is high level drawing information that has been subjected to a predetermined number (for example, 1-2) of conversion processes. The medium level drawing information is high level drawing information that has been subjected to a predetermined number (for example, 3 to 5) of conversion processes. The low-level drawing information is high-level drawing information that has been subjected to a predetermined number (for example, 6 or more) of conversion processes. Thus, the semi-high level drawing information and the medium level drawing information mean one of the levels of drawing information existing from the high level drawing information to the low level drawing information divided into a plurality of stages.

  As described above, the plurality of pieces of converted drawing information are identified by the predetermined number in accordance with the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23, for the sake of convenience of explanation in the present embodiment. The plurality of converted drawing information may be identified in different forms depending on the processing capability of the drawing processing unit 15 and the high performance drawing unit 23, or may not be identified.

  It should be noted that each processing unit can expect higher speed processing when converted into the highest level drawing information among the converted drawing information that can be processed by the high performance drawing unit 23.

  Hereinafter, the plurality of conversion drawing information will be described for each processing unit of the drawing processing unit 15. In the following description, each processing unit converts the high level drawing information into a drawing command and calls the high-performance drawing unit 23 to provide several conversion levels to make the processing step by step. The configuration will be described as an example.

(Graphic processing part)
First, an example of a plurality of converted drawing information for the graphic processing unit 16 will be described. FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the graphic processing unit 16-2 according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 19, the graphic processing unit 16-2 includes a path generation unit 30, a coordinate conversion unit 31, a curve straight line division unit 32, a straight line outline generation unit 33, a scanning line conversion unit 34, a rectangular trapezoid extraction unit 35, and a drawing command conversion unit. 36.

  With this configuration, in the graphic processing unit 16-2 that has received the high-level drawing information, the path generation unit 30 generates a path based on the high-level drawing information. Subsequently, the coordinate conversion unit 31 performs coordinate conversion. The path generation unit 30 (or the coordinate conversion unit 31) also performs an operation for calling the drawing command conversion unit 36. At this time, the graphic processing unit 16-2 generates the quasi-high level drawing information and calls the drawing command conversion unit 36.

  Further, the curved line dividing unit 32 divides a curve and a straight line. Subsequently, the straight line contour generation unit 33 generates a contour of a portion divided into curves. Note that the curved line dividing unit 32 (or the straight line contour generating unit 33) also performs an operation of calling the drawing command converting unit 36. At this time, the graphic processing unit 16-2 is configured to generate middle level drawing information and call the drawing command conversion unit 36.

  Further, the scanning line conversion unit 34 performs scanning line conversion. Subsequently, the rectangular trapezoid extraction unit 35 extracts a rectangle and a trapezoid. In this way, the drawing command conversion unit 36 is called by converting into low level drawing information.

  Note that this conversion level may not be applied uniformly to all graphic data, but the conversion level may be determined according to the type of graphic data.

  For example, when a graphic solid line is drawn using the high-performance drawing unit 23 shown in FIG. 18 (that is, when the graphic data is a solid line), the same result as the drawing result of the conventional drawing processing unit 15 (see FIG. 1). Is obtained. In other words, in this case, there is compatibility, but when a graphic broken line is drawn (that is, when graphic data is a broken line), there is a case where compatibility is not obtained.

  In this case, when the graphic data is a solid line, the coordinate conversion unit 31 shown in FIG. 19 passes the quasi-high level drawing information to the drawing command conversion unit 36, and when the graphic data is a broken line, the straight line shown in FIG. For example, the contour generation unit 33 can pass the medium level drawing information to the drawing command conversion unit 36.

  Similarly, the graphic processing unit 16-2 does not have the function of the graphic processing unit 16-2 or has a function different from that of the conventional drawing processing unit 15 in designating drawing with graphics such as a run cap and a join type. Even if there is such a thing, drawing processing can be performed with compatibility maintained.

(Text processing part)
Next, an example of a plurality of converted drawing information for the text processing unit 17 will be described. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the text processing unit according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 20, the text processing unit 17-2 includes a character outline data acquisition processing unit 37 from outline data, a graphic fill processing unit 38, and a drawing command conversion unit 36.

  With this configuration, in the text processing unit 17-2 that has received the high-level drawing information, the character outline data acquisition processing unit 37 from the outline data receives the received high-level drawing information (information such as typeface ID, character ID, and character attributes). The character outline data is acquired from the outline data. Note that the character outline data acquisition processing unit 37 from the outline data also performs an operation of calling the drawing command conversion unit 36. At this time, the text processing unit 17-2 has a composition for generating the semi-high level drawing information and calling the drawing command converting unit 36.

  Further, the painting processing unit 38 by graphic processing performs painting processing by graphic processing. In this way, the drawing command conversion unit 36 is called after converting into low-level drawing information (here, text data converted into a binary bitmap image).

  As with the graphic processing unit 16-2 described above, this conversion level is not applied uniformly to all text data, but the conversion level may be determined according to the type of text data. .

(Image processing part)
Next, an example of a plurality of converted drawing information for the image processing unit 18 will be described. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the image processing unit according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 21, the image processing unit 18-2 includes a compression / decompression unit 39, a rotation unit 40, a scaling unit 41, a color conversion unit 42 using a color processing unit, a gradation conversion unit 43, and a drawing command conversion unit 36.

  In the series of conversion steps shown in FIG. 21, the image processing unit 18-2 can also call the drawing command conversion unit 36 after the completion of each step. Specifically, the process executed by the image processing unit 18-2 is divided into processes performed by the compression / decompression unit 39, the rotation unit 40, the scaling unit 41, the color conversion unit 42 by the color processing unit, and the gradation conversion unit 43. Is done.

  With this configuration, in the image processing unit 18-2 that has received the high-level drawing information, the compression / decompression unit 39 performs a decompression process on the received high-level drawing information (compression information). Further, the rotation unit 40 performs a rotation process. When the compression / decompression unit 39 (or the rotation unit 40) calls the drawing command conversion unit 36, the image processing unit 18-2 generates a quasi-high level drawing information and calls the drawing command conversion unit 36.

  Further, the scaling unit 41 performs scaling processing. Further, the color conversion unit 42 by the color processing unit performs color conversion by the color processing unit 19 described later. When the color conversion unit 42 (or scaling unit 41) by the color processing unit calls the drawing command conversion unit 36, the image processing unit 18-2 generates medium level drawing information and calls the drawing command conversion unit 36. It becomes.

  Further, the gradation conversion unit 43 performs gradation conversion processing. When the gradation conversion unit 43 calls the drawing command conversion unit 36, the image processing unit 18-2 generates low-level drawing information and calls the drawing command conversion unit 36.

  As with the graphic processing unit 16-2 described above, this conversion level is not applied uniformly to all image data, but the conversion level may be determined according to the type of image data. .

  For example, in the case of drawing with rotation in units of 90 degrees (0/90/180/270 degrees) (that is, in the case where image data is rotated in units of 90 degrees), the image processing unit 18-2 compresses and decompresses 39 executes the process to generate conversion drawing information, and then calls the drawing command conversion unit 36. The drawing command conversion unit 36 converts the converted drawing information into a drawing command and passes the image data to the high performance drawing unit 23 as quasi-high level drawing information. In the case of other rotations (that is, when the image data is not accompanied by a rotation of 90 degrees), the rotation unit 40 executes the rotation process, and the scaling unit 41 creates the scaled image data. The drawing command conversion unit 36 is called. The drawing command conversion unit 36 converts the converted drawing information into a drawing command and passes the image data to the high performance drawing unit 23 as medium level drawing information. In this way, it is possible to take measures according to the type of image data.

  That is, the level at which the high-performance rendering unit 23 is used can be determined based on specific image processing. Alternatively, in the case of variable magnification, in the case of enlargement by an integral multiple or reduction by a fraction of an integer, the high performance drawing unit 23 performs a rotation process by the rotation unit 40 to generate conversion drawing information, and then draws a drawing command. The conversion unit 36 is called. The drawing command conversion unit 36 converts the converted drawing information into a drawing command and passes the image data to the high performance drawing unit 23. For other zooming cases, the rotation unit 40 executes the rotation process, and the zooming unit 41 creates the scaled image data, and then calls the drawing command conversion unit 36. The drawing command conversion unit 36 can take the correspondence of converting the converted drawing information into a drawing command and passing the image data to the high performance drawing unit 23 as medium level drawing information.

(Color processing part)
Next, an example of a plurality of converted drawing information for the color processing unit 19 will be described. FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the color processing unit according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 22, a color processing unit 19-2 includes a color matching processing unit 44, a complementary color conversion processing unit 45, a BG / UCR / gray conversion processing unit 46, a CIE to XYZ intermediate color conversion processing unit 47, and an XYZ to CMYK rendering color conversion process. Unit 48, gamma correction processing unit 49, total amount regulation processing unit 50, and drawing command conversion unit 36.

  In FIG. 22, when the input color information is RGB color, the steps of CIE to XYZ intermediate color conversion processing unit 47 and XYZ to CMYK rendering color conversion processing unit 48 are unnecessary. When the input color information is CIE color, the steps of the color matching processing unit 44, the complementary color conversion processing unit 45, and the BG / UCR / gray conversion processing unit 46 are unnecessary.

  With this configuration, the color processing unit 19-2 that has received the high-level drawing information can achieve optimum performance by distributing the processing load with the high-performance drawing unit 23.

  In the foregoing, each processing unit of the drawing processing unit 15 has been described. All of the conversion processing of the rendering commands and data contents that the graphic processing unit 16-2, the text processing unit 17-2, the image processing unit 18-2, and the color processing unit 19-2 pass to the high-performance rendering unit 23 Alternatively, the high-performance rendering unit 23 can handle the rendering process as early as possible by performing a part of the process (including the case where the entire conversion process is not performed). Is faster.

  The drawing command converted from the drawing information closer to the higher level drawing information is transferred to the high performance drawing unit 23 without being dropped into the low level drawing information by the drawing processing unit 15. The entire process can be speeded up.

  In addition, by deleting the DL generation unit 20 and performing processing by the high-performance rendering unit 23, it is no longer necessary to generate and store a large amount of DL data that is conventionally generated by the DL generation unit 20 and stored in the RAM 6. Therefore, the processing time required for writing and reading a large amount of DL data to the RAM 6 can be saved.

  As a result, the processing speed of the entire PDL processing can be improved as compared with the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 1 and the configuration in which the high-performance rendering unit 23 is incorporated by the method shown in FIG.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The apparatus configuration example of the image forming apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as that according to the above-described first embodiment (see FIG. 17), and the description thereof is omitted here.

(Details of PDL processing unit)
Next, details of the PDL processing unit 11 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 23, the PDL processing unit 11 includes an image processing device 24 and a high-performance drawing unit 23. Further, the image processing device 24 includes a PDL interpretation unit 14, a drawing processing unit 15, and a drawing command conversion unit 25.

  The PDL interpretation unit 14 interprets and analyzes codes (PDL data) described in PDL such as PostScript and PCL, and extracts high-level drawing information about graphics, text, image, and color drawing attributes (drawing components). To do. The high-level drawing information here is drawing information that is close to the command from the host, such as the parameters necessary for generating the drawing command as described above, and requires a lot of conversion until the final bitmap image. .

  The drawing processing unit 15 performs predetermined drawing processing based on the high-level drawing information extracted by the PDL interpretation unit 14. The predetermined drawing processing is image processing performed for each drawing attribute such as graphic processing, text processing, image processing, and color processing. In addition, drawing information (low level drawing information, medium level drawing information, semi-high level drawing information, high level drawing information, etc.) subjected to a predetermined drawing process is passed to the drawing command conversion unit 25. The drawing processing unit 25 includes a graphic processing unit 16, a text processing unit 17, an image processing unit 18, a color processing unit 19, and the like.

  The drawing command conversion unit 25 converts the drawing information received from the drawing processing unit 15 into a drawing command and passes it to the high performance drawing unit 23. The high performance drawing unit 23 receives a drawing command from the drawing command conversion unit 25 and performs a drawing process.

  The graphic processing unit 16 in the present embodiment performs all or part of the conversion processing shown in FIG. 2 on the high-level drawing information received from the PDL interpretation unit 14 (the conversion processing shown in FIG. 2). Including the case of not implementing everything). Further, a plurality of processed drawing information is passed to the drawing command conversion unit 25. Subsequently, the drawing command conversion unit 25 converts the drawing commands into a plurality of drawing commands corresponding to the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23 based on the processed drawing information.

  Accordingly, the image processing device 24 can pass a graphic drawing command generated based on a plurality of drawing information including high-level drawing information to the high-performance drawing unit 23. The high-level drawing information here includes, for example, straight lines, polygons, curve control points and parameters expressing the contour shape of the figure, the drawing method of the figure (whether the inside of the outline is painted, the outline is drawn as a line, Parameters for designating a clip region, etc.), parameters for designating drawing attributes (line width, line type, end point shape, connection shape, paint rule, paint pattern, etc.), and the like.

  Next, the text processing unit 17 will be described. The text processing unit 17 performs all or part of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 3 on the high-level drawing information received from the PDL interpretation unit 14 (when not performing all of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 3). Also included). Further, a plurality of processed drawing information is passed to the drawing command conversion unit 25. Subsequently, the drawing command conversion unit 25 converts the drawing commands into a plurality of drawing commands corresponding to the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23 based on the processed drawing information.

  As a result, the image processing device 24 can pass a text drawing command generated based on a plurality of drawing information including high-level drawing information to the high-performance drawing unit 23. The high-level drawing information here is, for example, a parameter for specifying a typeface ID, a character ID, drawing attributes (character size, drawing start position, style, rotation angle, special effects such as white shading), and the like. .

  Next, the image processing unit 18 will be described. The image processing unit 18 performs all or part of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 4 on the high-level drawing information received from the PDL interpretation unit 14 (when not performing all of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 4). Also included). Further, a plurality of processed drawing information is passed to the drawing command conversion unit 25. Subsequently, the drawing command conversion unit 25 converts the drawing commands into a plurality of drawing commands corresponding to the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23 based on the processed drawing information.

  As a result, the image processing device 24 can pass an image drawing command generated based on a plurality of drawing information including high-level drawing information to the high-performance drawing unit 23. Here, the high-level drawing information is, for example, high gradation bitmap data, compression method, parameters for specifying drawing attributes (bitmap width, height, drawing start position, rotation angle, scaling factor, etc.), and the like. .

  Next, the color processing unit 19 will be described. The color processing unit 19 performs all or part of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 5 on the high-level drawing information received from the PDL interpretation unit 14 (when not performing all of the conversion processing illustrated in FIG. 5). Also included). Further, a plurality of processed drawing information is passed to the drawing command conversion unit 25. Subsequently, the drawing command conversion unit 25 converts the drawing commands into a plurality of drawing commands corresponding to the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23 based on the processed drawing information.

  Accordingly, the image processing device 24 can pass a color drawing command generated based on a plurality of pieces of drawing information including high-level drawing information to the high-performance drawing unit 23. The high-level drawing information here includes, for example, a parameter for designating a specific color in RGB, CMY, CMYK, or CIE color space with high gradation, a parameter for designating gradation, and a color conversion attribute (color matching, BG / UCR / (γ, total amount regulation, gradation conversion, etc.).

(Outline of the drawing processing unit 15)
Subsequently, prior to describing the details of each processing unit (graphic processing unit 16, text processing unit 17, image processing unit 18, color processing unit 19) of the drawing processing unit 15, each processing unit performs high-level drawing. It will be described that information can be converted into a plurality of pieces of converted drawing information (a plurality of levels of conversion level drawing information).

  The plurality of converted drawing information includes, for example, high level drawing information, semi-high level drawing information, medium level drawing information, and low level drawing information. The high level drawing information is drawing information that has not been subjected to conversion processing, for example. The quasi-high level drawing information is high level drawing information that has been subjected to a predetermined number (for example, 1-2) of conversion processes. The medium level drawing information is high level drawing information that has been subjected to a predetermined number (for example, 3 to 5) of conversion processes. The low-level drawing information is high-level drawing information that has been subjected to a predetermined number (for example, 6 or more) of conversion processes. Thus, the semi-high level drawing information and the medium level drawing information mean one of the levels of drawing information existing from the high level drawing information to the low level drawing information divided into a plurality of stages.

  As described above, the plurality of pieces of converted drawing information are identified by the predetermined number in accordance with the processing capability of the high-performance drawing unit 23, but this is also for convenience of explanation in the present embodiment. The plurality of converted drawing information may be identified in different forms depending on the processing capability of the drawing processing unit 15 and the high performance drawing unit 23, or may not be identified.

  It should be noted that each processing unit can expect higher speed processing when converted into the highest level drawing information among the converted drawing information that can be processed by the high performance drawing unit 23.

Hereinafter, the plurality of conversion drawing information will be described for each processing unit of the drawing processing unit 15. In the following description, each processing unit converts the high level drawing information into a drawing command and calls the high-performance drawing unit 23 to provide several conversion levels to make the processing step by step. Explain the configuration as an example (graphic processing unit)
First, an example of a plurality of converted drawing information for the graphic processing unit 16 will be described. FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the graphic processing unit 16-3 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 24, the graphic processing unit 16-3 includes a path generation unit 30, a coordinate conversion unit 31, a curved line segmentation unit 32, a straight line outline generation unit 33, a scanning line conversion unit 34, and a rectangular trapezoid extraction unit 35.

  With this configuration, in the graphic processing unit 16-3 that has received the high-level drawing information, the path generation unit 30 generates a path based on the high-level drawing information. Subsequently, the coordinate conversion unit 31 performs coordinate conversion. The path generation unit 30 (or the coordinate conversion unit 31) also performs an operation for calling the drawing command conversion unit 25. At this time, the graphic processing unit 16-3 generates the quasi-high level drawing information and calls the drawing command conversion unit 25.

  Further, the curved line dividing unit 32 divides a curve and a straight line. Subsequently, the straight line contour generation unit 33 generates a contour of a portion divided into curves. Note that the curved line dividing unit 32 (or the straight line contour generating unit 33) also performs an operation of calling the drawing command converting unit 25. At this time, the graphic processing unit 16-3 is configured to generate middle level drawing information and call the drawing command conversion unit 25.

  Further, the scanning line conversion unit 34 performs scanning line conversion. Subsequently, the rectangular trapezoid extraction unit 35 extracts a rectangle and a trapezoid. In this way, the drawing command conversion unit 25 is called by converting into low level drawing information.

  Note that this conversion level may not be applied uniformly to all graphic data, but the conversion level may be determined according to the type of graphic data.

  For example, when a graphic solid line is drawn using the high-performance drawing unit 23 shown in FIG. 23 (that is, when the graphic data is a solid line), the same result as the drawing result of the conventional drawing processing unit 15 (see FIG. 1) is obtained. Is obtained. In other words, in this case, there is compatibility, but when a graphic broken line is drawn (that is, when graphic data is a broken line), there is a case where compatibility is not obtained.

  In this case, when the graphic data is a solid line, the coordinate conversion unit 31 shown in FIG. 24 passes the quasi-high level drawing information to the drawing command conversion unit 25. When the graphic data is a broken line, the straight line shown in FIG. For example, the contour generation unit 33 can pass the medium level drawing information to the drawing command conversion unit 25.

  Similarly, the graphic processing unit 16-3 does not have the function of the graphic processing unit 16-3 or has a function different from that of the conventional drawing processing unit 15 in designating drawing with graphics such as a run cap and a join type. Even if there is such a thing, drawing processing can be performed with compatibility maintained.

(Text processing part)
Next, an example of a plurality of converted drawing information for the text processing unit 17 will be described. FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a text processing unit according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 25, the text processing unit 17-2 includes a character outline extraction processing unit 37 and a graphic filling processing unit 38 from outline data.

  With this configuration, in the text processing unit 17-3 that has received the high-level drawing information, the character outline data acquisition processing unit 37 from the outline data receives the high-level drawing information (information such as typeface ID, character ID, and character attributes). The character outline data is acquired from the outline data. It should be noted that the character outline data acquisition processing unit 37 from the outline data also performs an operation of calling the drawing command conversion unit 25. At this time, the text processing unit 17-3 is configured to generate semi-high level drawing information and call the drawing command conversion unit 25.

  Further, the painting processing unit 38 by graphic processing performs painting processing by graphic processing. In this way, the drawing command conversion unit 25 is called by converting into low-level drawing information (here, text data converted into a binary bitmap image).

  As with the graphic processing unit 16-3 described above, this conversion level may not be applied uniformly to all text data, but the conversion level may be determined according to the type of text data. .

(Image processing part)
Next, an example of a plurality of converted drawing information for the image processing unit 18 will be described. FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the image processing unit according to the first embodiment. 26, the image processing unit 18-3 includes a compression / decompression unit 39, a rotation unit 40, a scaling unit 41, a color conversion unit 42 using a color processing unit, and a gradation conversion unit 43.

  In the series of conversion steps shown in FIG. 26, the image processing unit 18-3 can also call the drawing command conversion unit 25 after the end of each step. Specifically, the process executed by the image processing unit 18-3 is divided into processes performed by the compression / decompression unit 39, the rotation unit 40, the scaling unit 41, the color conversion unit 42 by the color processing unit, and the gradation conversion unit 43. Is done.

  With this configuration, in the image processing unit 18-3 that has received the high-level drawing information, the compression / decompression unit 39 performs a decompression process on the received high-level drawing information (compression information). Further, the rotation unit 40 performs a rotation process. Note that when the compression / decompression unit 39 (or the rotation unit 40) calls the drawing command conversion unit 25, the image processing unit 18-3 generates a quasi-high level drawing information and calls the drawing command conversion unit 25.

  Further, the scaling unit 41 performs scaling processing. Further, the color conversion unit 42 by the color processing unit performs color conversion by the color processing unit 19 described later. When the color conversion unit 42 (or scaling unit 41) by the color processing unit calls the drawing command conversion unit 25, the image processing unit 18-3 generates medium level drawing information and calls the drawing command conversion unit 25. It becomes.

  Further, the gradation conversion unit 43 performs gradation conversion processing. Note that when the tone conversion unit 43 calls the drawing command conversion unit 25, the image processing unit 18-3 generates low-level drawing information and calls the drawing command conversion unit 25.

  As with the graphic processing unit 16-3 described above, this conversion level may not be applied uniformly to all image data, but the conversion level may be determined according to the type of image data. .

  For example, in the case of drawing with a rotation of 90 degree units (0/90/180/270 degrees) (that is, when the image data is rotated by 90 degree units), the image processing unit 18-3 uses a compression / decompression unit. 39 executes the process to generate conversion drawing information, and then calls the drawing command conversion unit 25. The drawing command conversion unit 25 converts the converted drawing information into a drawing command and passes the image data to the high performance drawing unit 23 as quasi-high level drawing information. In the case of other rotations (that is, when the image data is not accompanied by a rotation of 90 degrees), the rotation unit 40 executes the rotation process, and the scaling unit 41 creates the scaled image data. The drawing command conversion unit 25 is called. The drawing command conversion unit 25 converts the converted drawing information into a drawing command and passes the image data to the high performance drawing unit 23 as medium level drawing information. In this way, it is possible to take measures according to the type of image data.

  That is, the level at which the high-performance rendering unit 23 is used can be determined based on specific image processing. Alternatively, in the case of variable magnification, in the case of enlargement by an integral multiple or reduction by a fraction of an integer, the high performance drawing unit 23 performs a rotation process by the rotation unit 40 to generate conversion drawing information, and then draws a drawing command. Call the conversion unit 25. The drawing command conversion unit 25 converts the converted drawing information into a drawing command and passes the image data to the high performance drawing unit 23. For other zooming cases, the rotation unit 40 executes rotation processing, and the zooming unit 41 creates the scaled image data, and then calls the drawing command conversion unit 25. The drawing command conversion unit 25 can take the correspondence of converting the converted drawing information into a drawing command and passing the image data as medium level drawing information to the high performance drawing unit 23.

(Color processing part)
Next, an example of a plurality of converted drawing information for the color processing unit 19 will be described. FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a color processing unit according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 27, a color processing unit 19-3 includes a color matching processing unit 44, a complementary color conversion processing unit 45, a BG / UCR / grey conversion processing unit 46, a CIE to XYZ intermediate color conversion processing unit 47, and an XYZ to CMYK rendering color conversion process. Unit 48, gamma correction processing unit 49, and total amount regulation processing unit 50.

  In FIG. 27, when the input color information is RGB color, the steps of CIE to XYZ intermediate color conversion processing unit 47 and XYZ to CMYK rendering color conversion processing unit 48 are unnecessary. When the input color information is CIE color, the steps of the color matching processing unit 44, the complementary color conversion processing unit 45, and the BG / UCR / gray conversion processing unit 46 are unnecessary.

  With this configuration, the color processing unit 19-3 that has received the high-level drawing information can achieve optimum performance by distributing the processing in the high-performance drawing unit 23 and the load.

  In the foregoing, each processing unit of the drawing processing unit 15 has been described. All of the conversion processing of the rendering commands and data contents that the graphic processing unit 16-3, the text processing unit 17-3, the image processing unit 18-3, and the color processing unit 19-3 pass to the high-performance rendering unit 23 Alternatively, the high-performance rendering unit 23 can handle the rendering process as early as possible by performing a part of the process (including the case where the entire conversion process is not performed). Is faster.

  A drawing command converted from drawing information close to higher-level drawing information is transferred to the high-performance drawing unit 23 without being dropped into the low-level drawing information by the drawing processing unit 15. The entire process can be speeded up.

  In addition, by deleting the DL generation unit 20 and performing processing by the high-performance rendering unit 23, it is no longer necessary to generate and store a large amount of DL data that is conventionally generated by the DL generation unit 20 and stored in the RAM 6. Therefore, the processing time required for writing and reading a large amount of DL data to the RAM 6 can be saved.

  As a result, the processing speed of the entire PDL processing can be improved as compared with the conventional configuration shown in FIG. 1 and the configuration in which the high-performance rendering unit 23 is incorporated by the method shown in FIG.

  Further, in the second embodiment, a drawing command conversion unit 25 that converts drawing information into a drawing command that can be input by the high-performance drawing unit 23 is cut out from the drawing processing unit 15 and separated from the configuration of FIG. The configuration shown in FIG. 23 with increased modularity is adopted.

  The feature of this configuration is that the drawing command conversion unit 25 conceals the high-performance drawing unit 23 when viewed from the PDL interpretation unit 14 and the drawing processing unit 15 as the higher-level means, and absorbs changes and differences in the high-performance drawing unit 23. To play a role to do.

  On the other hand, when viewed from the high-performance rendering unit 23 as a subordinate means, the PDL interpretation unit 14 and the rendering processing unit 15 are concealed, and the change of the PDL interpretation unit 14 and the rendering processing unit 15 is absorbed. .

  As a result, when the high-performance rendering unit 23 incorporated so far is changed due to version upgrades or countermeasures against troubles, the PDL interpretation unit 14 and the rendering processing unit 15 are not modified, and only the rendering command conversion unit 25 is increased. This can be dealt with by performing the minimum necessary correction according to the change contents of the performance drawing unit 23.

  Further, when the high-performance drawing unit 23 to be incorporated is changed from that of the company A to another of the company B, the PDL interpretation unit 14 and the drawing processing unit 15 are not modified, and the high-performance drawing unit 23 of the company B This can be dealt with by newly creating and incorporating a drawing command conversion unit 25 corresponding to the drawing command specification.

  Therefore, from the viewpoint of designing the upper level means, it is not necessary to design in consideration of the change contents of the high-performance drawing unit 23 and the difference in details of various types of high-performance drawing units 23 (design and design change). As a result, the design cost can be reduced, and the portability (portability) of the higher-level means can be increased, so that it is possible to easily cope with various high-performance rendering units 23 (that is, business development). It is done.

  Further, the conventional DL generation unit 20 and the DL drawing unit 21 are incorporated in place of the high-performance drawing unit 23 by creating and replacing the drawing command conversion unit 25 corresponding to the DL generation unit 20 and the DL drawing unit 21 of FIG. You can also use the conventional drawing method. As a result, the PDL processing unit 11 is shifted to the new configuration of the second embodiment, and the case where there is no high-performance drawing unit 23 or the case where the same compatibility as in the past is required for the drawing result is supported. be able to.

  On the other hand, when the PDL interpretation unit 14 or the drawing processing unit 15 is changed due to version upgrade or trouble countermeasures, only the drawing command conversion unit 25 is converted to the drawing processing unit 15 without changing the high-performance drawing unit 23. This can be dealt with by making the minimum necessary correction according to the change contents of the interface between the units 25.

  Accordingly, when viewed from the side of designing or providing the high-performance rendering unit 23, there is a high possibility that even if the higher-level means is changed in the future, the device itself is continuously incorporated without any change.

  As a result, when the entire PDL processing unit 14 is viewed (when viewed from the standpoint of using the PDL processing unit 14), maintainability (maintenability) is enhanced.

  As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the requirements shown here, such as combinations with other elements listed in the above embodiments. With respect to these points, the present invention can be changed within a range that does not detract from the gist of the present invention, and can be appropriately determined according to the application form.

It is a figure which shows the prior art example of a PDL process part (the 1). It is a figure which shows the processing content of a graphic process part. It is a figure which shows the processing content of a text process part. It is a figure which shows the processing content of an image process part. It is a figure which shows the processing content of a color process part. It is a figure which shows the rectangular DL example. It is a figure which shows the trapezoid DL example. It is a figure which shows the DL example of a run. It is a figure which shows the example of DL of a text. It is a figure which shows the example of DL of an image. It is a figure which shows the example of color DL. It is a figure which shows the prior art example of a PDL process part (the 2). It is a figure which shows the drawing command in the case of drawing a square. It is a figure which shows the drawing command in the case of painting with a color. It is a figure which shows the drawing command in the case of drawing an image. It is a figure which shows the drawing command in the case of drawing a character. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the drawing processing apparatus in this Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a graphic processing unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the text processing part which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing unit according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a color processing unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the drawing processing apparatus in this Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a graphic processing unit according to a second embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the text processing part which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an image processing unit according to a second embodiment. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a color processing unit according to a second embodiment. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 2 Operation panel 3 Host I / F apparatus 4 Print engine apparatus 5 ROM
6 RAM
7 Frame memory 8 Non-volatile storage device 9 Drawing accelerator 11 PDL processing unit 14 PDL interpretation unit 15 Drawing processing unit 16, 16-2 Graphics processing unit 17, 17-2 Text processing unit 18, 18-2 Image processing unit 19, 19 -2 Color processing unit 20 DL generation unit 21 DL drawing unit 22 Drawing command unit 23 High performance drawing unit 24 Image processing device 30 Path generation unit 31 Coordinate conversion unit 32 Curve straight line division unit 33 Straight line outline generation unit 34 Scan line conversion unit 35 Rectangular trapezoid extraction unit 36 Drawing command conversion unit 37 Character outline extraction processing unit 38 from outline data Graphic filling processing unit 39 Compression / decompression unit 40 Rotation unit 41 Scaling unit 42 Color conversion unit 43 by color processing unit Gradation conversion unit 44 Color Matching processing unit 45 Complementary color conversion processing unit 46 BG / UCR / Gray conversion processing unit 47 CIE? CMYK rendering color from XYZ intermediate color conversion processing unit 48 XYZ conversion unit 49 gamma correction processing unit 50 the total amount control processing unit

Claims (10)

PDL interpretation means for interpreting PDL data and extracting drawing information for each drawing attribute of one or more of graphic, text, image, and color, and based on the drawing information extracted by the PDL interpretation means, A drawing processing device that generates a drawing command to be transferred to a drawing unit that receives a drawing command from the drawing processing device and draws the drawing command;
Drawing processing means for generating a plurality of converted drawing information corresponding to the processing capability of the drawing means based on the drawing information extracted by the PDL interpretation means;
A drawing command conversion unit that converts converted drawing information corresponding to the processing capability of the drawing unit that receives a drawing command from the drawing processing device and performs drawing out of the plurality of converted drawing information generated by the drawing processing unit into a drawing command. When,
A drawing processing apparatus comprising: The drawing processing means includes:
Graphic drawing information generation means corresponding to graphics drawing information;
Text drawing information generating means corresponding to text drawing information;
Image drawing information generating means corresponding to the image drawing information;
The drawing processing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising at least one of color drawing information generation means corresponding to color drawing information.   The drawing processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing processing unit generates a plurality of converted drawing information for each drawing attribute. The drawing processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Drawing means for outputting a bitmap image based on the drawing command converted by the drawing command conversion means;
A PDL processing apparatus comprising: A PDL processing device according to claim 4,
Print engine means for forming an image based on the bitmap image output by the PDL processing device;
Control means for controlling the PDL processing device and the print engine means;
An image forming apparatus comprising: A drawing command generation method in a drawing processing device that generates a drawing command to be transferred to a drawing means that receives a drawing command from the drawing processing device and draws based on the PDL data,
A PDL interpretation step of interpreting the PDL data and extracting drawing information for each of one or more drawing attributes of graphics, text, images, and colors;
A drawing processing step for generating a plurality of converted drawing information corresponding to the processing capability of the drawing means based on the drawing information extracted in the PDL interpretation step;
A drawing command conversion step of converting converted drawing information corresponding to the processing capability of a drawing unit that draws a drawing command from the drawing processing device among the plurality of converted drawing information generated in the drawing processing step into a drawing command. When,
A drawing command generation method characterized by comprising: The drawing processing step includes
A graphic drawing information generation step corresponding to graphics drawing information;
A text drawing information generation step corresponding to text drawing information;
An image drawing information generation step corresponding to the image drawing information;
7. The drawing command generation method according to claim 6, further comprising any one or more of color drawing information generation steps corresponding to color drawing information.   The drawing command generation method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein, in the drawing processing step, a plurality of converted drawing information is generated for each drawing attribute.   A drawing command generation program that causes a computer to execute processing according to each unit of the drawing processing apparatus according to claim 1.   A computer-readable recording medium having the drawing command generation program according to claim 9 recorded thereon.

Images