JP2009132040A - Printer and print data processing method of printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer which enables interpretation according to a command system of a suitable language when print data without designating a page description language is received and a print data processing method of the printer. <P>SOLUTION: The printer 1 includes a communication I/F 11 and a network I/F 12 for receiving a print data PD described by the page description language, a plurality of language interpretation units 14a to 14c capable of interpreting description of a mutually different page description language, a job control unit 15 for selecting the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to a language of the received print data PD to interpret a code of the print data PD, and a printing engine 20 for executing printing based on the interpretation result of the print data PD. When a peculiar command is detected for a language that another language interpretation unit 14 corresponds in interpretation by the selected language interpretation unit 14, the job control unit 15 switches to language interpretation mainly related to the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to a language of a characteristic command. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that interprets print data described in a page description language and performs printing based on the interpretation result, and a print data processing method of the printing apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a printer capable of processing print data for which no page description language is specified by determining a page description language used for print data and performing language interpretation according to the determined page description language. ing.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 narrows down the command system candidates for the page description language in accordance with commands included in a predetermined data size from the top of the print data, and is characteristic of each command system from the narrowed candidates. There is disclosed a technique for determining a language used for print data by determining a command system of the print data by a command.

  Patent Document 2 calculates the degree of syntax matching with a plurality of page description languages for each command included in data of a predetermined size from the top of print data not including a language designation command, and calculates the upper two syntaxes calculated. A technique is disclosed in which, when the degree of coincidence difference is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the language having the highest degree of syntactic coincidence is determined as the language of the received print data. In addition, when the difference between the calculated upper two syntax matching degrees is less than a predetermined value, the determination accuracy is further increased by determining further using data subsequent to data of a predetermined size from the top of the print data. ing.

JP-A-8-2067 JP 2007-241758 A

  However, in the techniques of Patent Documents 1 and 2, the data size used for the determination is a predetermined size. For example, between languages having similar command systems, the type of language used for print data is incorrect. There was a possibility of judging. Increasing the data size used for determination can improve the determination accuracy, but it is inconvenient because it increases the processing time, and even if the data size is increased to increase the determination accuracy, the possibility of erroneous determination is eliminated. It is difficult. As described above, in the conventional technique, the type of language used in the print data may be erroneously determined. If the erroneous determination is made, an inappropriate print result based on an incorrect interpretation result is obtained, which is wasteful. There was a problem that printing would be difficult.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

  Application Example 1 Corresponds to a receiving unit that receives print data described in a page description language, a plurality of interpreting units that can interpret descriptions in different page description languages, and a page description language of the received print data. A control unit that selects the interpretation unit and causes the selected interpretation unit to interpret a description of the print data; and a printing unit that performs printing based on an interpretation result of the print data, the control unit including: In the language interpretation by the selected interpretation means, when a description specific to the page description language corresponding to the other interpretation means is detected, it is used for the specific description instead of the selected interpretation means. A printing apparatus that causes interpretation means corresponding to a given page description language to interpret the print data.

  According to this configuration, when a description specific to the page description language supported by another interpretation unit is detected during interpretation of the print data by the selected interpretation unit, the page description language used for the specific description Therefore, the received print data is interpreted by an appropriate interpretation means. Therefore, even if the interpretation means selected by the control means does not correspond to the language used for the print data, an appropriate print result based on the appropriate interpretation result for the print data is obtained, and wasteful printing is performed. Can be prevented.

  Application Example 2 In the printing apparatus, a first storage unit that stores the received print data and maintains at least a description before interpretation of the description of the print data, and the selected interpretation unit Second storage means for storing the description that has been interpreted by the above-described interpretation means, and in the interpretation by the selected interpretation means, when a description specific to the page description language corresponding to the other interpretation means is detected, The interpreting means corresponding to the page description language used for the unique description interprets the description stored in the second storage means and then stores the unique description stored in the first storage means. A printing apparatus that interprets the following description.

  According to this configuration, since the interpreted description is stored in the second storage unit, the interpretation unit corresponding to the language used for the specific description is stored in the interpreted storage unit stored in the second storage unit. By interpreting the description and then interpreting the description after the unique description stored in the first storage means, all the descriptions described in the page description language in the received print data are used for the unique description. It is interpreted by a language interpreting means corresponding to the language being read. Therefore, even when there is no interpreted description remaining in the first storage means, the print data including the specific description by the appropriate interpretation means corresponding to the page description language used for the specific description. Can be reinterpreted and an appropriate print result can be obtained.

  Application Example 3 In the printing apparatus, the print data includes a setting command for setting a printing environment, and the printing environment setting information acquired by the selected interpretation unit interpreting the setting command. And a third storage means for storing the unique description when a description specific to the page description language corresponding to the other interpretation means is detected in the language interpretation by the selected interpretation means. The interpreting means corresponding to the page description language used in the step of setting the printing environment based on the setting information stored in the third storage means and interpreting the description after the specific description A printing device.

  According to this configuration, since the setting information of the printing environment is stored in the third storage unit, even if the interpretation unit to be interpreted is changed, the setting information stored in the third storage unit is used. You can reset the printing environment. Therefore, when the language interpretation unit for interpretation is switched, even if the storage of the description for setting the printing environment does not remain in the first storage unit, it is based on the setting information stored in the third storage unit. The printing environment can be reset and printing can be performed using the designated appropriate printing environment. Examples of the printing environment include designation of a paper supply / discharge device, designation of the number of copies, designation of a print mode, and the like.

  Application Example 4 In the printing apparatus, in the case where the received print data includes a command for specifying a page description language, the control unit selects the interpretation unit corresponding to the specified page description language. If the selected interpreting means interprets the print data and the received print data does not include a command for specifying a page description language, the page description language used for the received print data is determined. And selecting the interpretation unit corresponding to the determined page description language, and causing the selected interpretation unit to interpret the print data.

  According to this configuration, whether the received print data includes a command for specifying the page description language or no command for specifying the page description language is used, appropriate printing is performed. The result can be obtained.

  Application Example 5 In the printing apparatus, when the selected interpretation unit detects a description that cannot be interpreted, the control unit converts the description that cannot be interpreted into a page description language that the other interpretation unit corresponds to. If it is a unique description, instead of the selected interpretation means, the interpretation means corresponding to the page description language used for the unique description is interpreted, and the description that cannot be interpreted by other interpretation means If the description is not specific to the corresponding page description language, printing of the received print data is stopped.

  According to this configuration, printing is stopped for print data that includes a command in a language that does not correspond to any of the plurality of interpretation means, so that it is inappropriate for the language used in the print data. It is possible to prevent unnecessary printing from being performed based on the interpretation result by the interpretation means.

  [Application Example 6] A reception unit that receives print data described in a page description language, a plurality of interpretation units that can interpret descriptions in different page description languages, and printing based on the interpretation result of the print data. A printing data processing method for a printing apparatus comprising: a printing unit, wherein the interpretation unit corresponding to a page description language of the received print data is selected, and the print data is described in the selected interpretation unit. In the language interpretation by the selected interpreting means, when a description specific to the page description language corresponding to the other interpreting means is detected, the specific description is replaced with the selected interpreting means. A printing data processing method for a printing apparatus, characterized in that interpretation means corresponding to a used page description language interprets the printing data.

  In this way, since the description of the received print data is interpreted by an appropriate interpretation unit corresponding to the specific description, an appropriate print result can be obtained for the print data.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on examples.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the printer according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, a printer (printing apparatus) 1 includes a controller 10 including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, various interfaces, and the like, and a print engine that performs electrophotographic printing under the control of the controller 10. Printing means) 20. The printer 1 can perform data communication with a personal computer directly connected by a cable or the like, or with a personal computer connected via a network, and the print data PD transmitted from the personal computer includes the contents. Regardless of being received. For this reason, the printer 1 may receive print data PD in which codes according to command systems of various page description languages (hereinafter also referred to as “languages”) are described regardless of whether they can be processed. is there. The received print data PD may include a language designation command indicating the language type, or the language type may not be explicitly indicated. The printer 1 performs printing according to the various print data PD described above. Hereinafter, each configuration of the printer 1 will be described.

  The controller 10 of the printer 1 includes a communication I / F (reception unit) 11, a network I / F (reception unit) 12, a reception buffer (first storage unit) 13, a first language interpretation unit 14 a, A bilingual interpretation unit 14b, a third language interpretation unit 14c, a job control unit (control means) 15, a drawing processing unit 16, a page memory 17, an engine control unit 18, a setting information buffer 19, and a decision table T.

  The communication I / F 11 is an interface connected to a personal computer through a cable or the like so as to be able to perform data communication. The network I / F 12 is an interface to the network, and can communicate data with a personal computer via the network. The print data PD received from the personal computer by the communication I / F 11 or the network I / F 12 is stored in the reception buffer 13. The reception buffer 13 is an area for temporarily storing the received print data PD. In the print data PD written in the reception buffer 13, an uninterpreted code is maintained and stored. Is managed so that it can be overwritten by data received later.

  The first language interpretation unit 14a, the second language interpretation unit 14b, and the third language interpretation unit 14c are language interpretation units (interpretation means) 14 corresponding to different page description languages, respectively, and the first language interpretation unit 14a is the first language interpretation unit 14a. The page description language can be interpreted, the second language interpretation unit 14b can interpret the second page description language, and the third language interpretation unit 14c can interpret the third page description language. That is, the printer 1 has a configuration corresponding to three types of languages: a first page description language, a second page description language, and a third page description language. However, the types of languages supported by the printer 1 are not limited to this, and may be configured to correspond to two types of languages or four or more types of languages.

  The job control unit 15 is a part that controls a job of the received print data PD. In particular, the job control unit 15 performs control to select and activate the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the language used in the received print data PD. The first language interpretation unit 14a, the second language interpretation unit 14b, the third language interpretation unit 14c, and the job control unit 15 function when the CPU executes a corresponding program. When the CPU reads a program corresponding to the selected language interpretation unit 14 from the ROM and executes the program, the language interpretation unit 14 is activated, and the language interpretation unit 14 is ready to perform language interpretation.

  Here, the print data PD received by the printer 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the data structure of the print data PD. As shown in FIG. 2, the print data PD has a job description part PDa at the head. The job description part PDa is composed of a command group for performing print settings for the entire job, and includes an environment setting command for setting a print environment such as a paper supply / discharge device, the number of copies, and a print mode, and a language for specifying the language type of the print data PD. The specified command is described in a predetermined language.

  Next to the job description part PDa is a page description part PDb written in a page description language. The page description part PDb has an environment setting command at its head. The environment setting command of the page description part PDb includes a command for designating a color conversion table and a screen table that are referred to in color conversion processing and screen processing of the engine control unit 18 to be described later, and a command for designating a paper supply / discharge device. Note that the environment setting command described in the page description part PDb may include items that overlap with the environment setting command in the job description part PDa. In this case, a command set later is preferentially printed and set by the language interpretation unit 14 which has started interpretation of the page description part PDb. Further, the page description portion PDb describes the print contents for each page such as a drawing command and a page break command following the environment setting command.

  The job control unit 15 sequentially interprets the codes described in the job description unit PDa of the print data PD having the above-described configuration from the top, and stores setting information regarding print settings for the entire job in the setting information buffer 19. Then, by starting the language interpreting unit 14 corresponding to the interpreted language designation command, the started language interpreting unit 14 is controlled to interpret the code of the page description unit PDb.

  As described above, the printer 1 may receive print data PD that does not explicitly indicate the page description language, that is, the job description part PDa does not include a language designation command. In this case, the job control unit 15 cannot select the language interpretation unit 14 to be activated according to the language designation command, and therefore determines the type of language corresponding to the print data PD in which the language designation command is not described by a predetermined method. The language interpreter 14 corresponding to the selected language is selected and activated.

  Furthermore, the language determined for the print data PD in which no language designation command is described is not necessarily a language that appropriately corresponds to the print data PD. For this reason, when a command in a language not supported by the language interpretation unit 14 being interpreted is detected during interpretation by the activated language interpretation unit 14, the job control unit 15 interprets a language corresponding to the language of the detected command. The unit 14 is newly activated to perform switching control of the language interpreting unit 14 which is a subject of language interpretation.

  By performing these controls, the job control unit 15 enables language interpretation for the print data PD for which the page description language is not explicitly shown. Then, the drawing processing unit 16 performs a drawing process of developing a bitmap image based on the interpretation result of the drawing command in the page memory 17, and the engine control unit 18 outputs the page data generated on the page memory 17 by the drawing process. A process of converting the data into a format that can be processed by the print engine 20 is performed. Specifically, the engine control unit 18 converts the RGB gradation value bitmap image page data into printer-compatible bitmap image page data (for example, CMYK gradation value bitmap image data). By performing processing such as conversion processing, screen processing, and pulse width modulation, and outputting the data after pulse width modulation to the print engine 20, printing by the print engine 20 is controlled. The controller 10 has various color conversion tables and screen conversion tables in accordance with printing that gives priority to the resolution that can be specified by the user, printing that gives priority to gradation, or printing medium (printing paper) type. In the color conversion process and the screen process, a table suitable for the entire print job, each print page, or each drawing command is selected and the color conversion process and the screen process are executed.

  Next, the print control process performed in the printer 1 described above will be described in detail according to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  For example, when the print data PD is received from any of the personal computers via the communication I / F 11 or the network I / F 12, the received print data PD is stored in the reception buffer 13, and the processing of FIG. Is started. When the process is started, first, the job control unit 15 of the controller 10 interprets the code of the job description part PDa of the print data PD (step S100). At this time, the setting contents of the environment setting command for the printing environment are processed under the printing environment according to the setting information in the setting information buffer 19 in subsequent processing by storing setting information indicating the setting contents in the setting information buffer 19. Set to be done.

  Next, the job control unit 15 determines whether there is a language designation in the received print data PD (step S105). Here, it is determined by interpreting the code of the job description part PDa in the print data PD and detecting the language designation command. If the language is designated (step S105: Yes), next, whether the printer 1 corresponds to the designated language, that is, the designated language is the first page description language, the second page description language, It is determined whether it is any of the third page description languages (step S110).

  If it corresponds to the designated language (step S110: Yes), the job control unit 15 activates the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the designated page description language (step S115), and the activated language interpretation unit 14 is caused to interpret the code of the page description part PDb of the print data PD (step S120). At this time, if the code interpreted by the activated language interpretation unit 14 is a drawing command, the drawing processing unit 16 develops an image of the object according to the drawing command in the page memory 17.

  Next, the language interpretation unit 14 determines whether or not the interpreted code is a page break command (step S125). If it is not a page break command (step S125: No), the process returns to step S120, and an unprocessed code among the codes included in the print data PD is interpreted. The processes in steps S120 and S125 are repeated until a page break command is detected. When a page break command is detected by interpretation (step S125: Yes), one page of pages developed in the page memory 17 is displayed. Data is output to the engine control unit 18 (step S130). At this time, the engine control unit 18 performs color conversion processing, screen processing, and pulse width modulation processing on the page data, and outputs the processed data to the print engine 20, thereby printing one page. .

  Next, the language interpretation unit 14 determines whether or not all pages have been processed (step S135). If all the pages have not been processed (step S135: No), the process returns to step S120, and the process for the next page is repeated. By repeating the processes in steps S120 to S135, if the processes for all pages have been completed (step S135: Yes), it is determined that the process for the received print data PD has been completed, and the processes in FIGS. Exit. As described above, in steps S115 to S135, printing is performed by interpreting the code of the received print data PD in accordance with the command system of the page description language designated by the language designation command.

  On the other hand, when the language is not specified in the received print data PD (step S105: No), and when the printer 1 does not correspond to the specified language (step S110: No), the job control unit 15 displays the print data. The type of page description language used for the PD is determined (step S140). The language type is determined by referring to a decision table T that indicates in advance the types of commands specific to each language of a plurality of languages including the first page description language, the second page description language, and the third page description language. The decision table T is a table for determining the type of language, and associates each language with a command specific to the language. Specific commands include, for example, a command for specifying a color conversion table specific to a monochrome printing language, and a command for specifying a color conversion table specific to that language for a language for color printing. Can be mentioned. Note that the unique command in the decision table T is preferably a command that is set at the beginning of the page description portion. By referring to this decision table T, the job control unit 15 specifies the language used for the print data PD based on a specific command included in the data of a predetermined size from the top of the page description part PDb of the print data PD. To do.

  However, the language type determination method is not limited to this, and for example, it may be determined using the technique described in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2. Even if the determination here is incorrect, a process for switching to interpretation processing by the language interpretation unit 14 of an appropriate language is performed in the subsequent processing. By doing so, the determination process may be simplified and the processing speed may be increased.

  Next, the job control unit 15 selects and activates the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the language determined in step S140 (step S145), and the activated language interpretation unit 14 selects an unprocessed code in the print data PD. Is interpreted (step S150). At this time, if the interpreted code is a drawing command, the drawing processing unit 16 develops an object image according to the drawing command in the page memory 17.

  Next, the language interpretation unit 14 determines whether or not the interpreted code is a command specific to another language (step S155). Here, the code that was tried to be interpreted in step S150 but was not interpreted by the activated language interpreter 14, that is, the language interpreter 14 being interpreted, is activated by referring to the decision table T. The language interpretation unit 14 determines whether or not the corresponding language is a command specific to another language.

  If it is determined that the interpreted command is not a command specific to another language (step S155: No), the language interpretation unit 14 determines whether or not the command obtained by interpreting the code is a page break command. (Step S160). If it is not a page break command (step S160: No), the process returns to step S150 to continue processing for the unprocessed code. If it is a page break command (step S160: Yes), the engine control unit 18 converts the page data expanded in the page memory 17 into data that can be processed by the print engine 20, and outputs the data to the print engine 20. One page is printed (step S165). Then, it is determined whether or not all pages have been processed (step S170). If the next page remains (step S170: No), the process returns to step S150 to repeat the process for the next code.

  As described above, by repeatedly performing the processes of steps S150 to S170, the language interpretation unit 14 activated in step S145 interprets the code of the print data PD one after another, and prints page by page using the page break command as a delimiter. Is done. Then, when the code of the next page is lost and the processing is completed for all pages (step S170: Yes), the processing of FIGS.

  Here, FIG. 5 shows a processing example when the first language interpretation unit 14a is activated in step S145. As shown in FIG. 5A, the activated first language interpretation unit 14a starts the code of the print data PD (page description unit PDb) stored in the reception buffer 13 by repeating the processes of steps S145 to S165. Are interpreted sequentially. In FIG. 5, since the interpreted code may not be stored depending on the data reception status after the print data being interpreted, it is indicated by a broken line.

  If the print data PD stored in the reception buffer 13 includes a command PC specific to the second page description language, the first language interpreter 14a sequentially interprets the command as shown in FIG. As the process proceeds, the code of the command PC specific to the second page description language is detected and interpreted, but the first language interpreter 14a cannot interpret the code of the specific command PC. At this time, the first language interpretation unit 14a determines that the code that could not be interpreted by the activated language interpretation unit 14 is a command specific to another page description language (step S155: Yes), and the step Proceed to S175.

  When the process proceeds to step S175, the job control unit 15 determines whether there is language support of the printer 1 for the language corresponding to the specific command that could not be interpreted in step S150. In the present embodiment, the printer 1 supports three languages: a first page description language, a second page description language, and a third page description language. It is determined whether the first page description language, the second page description language, or the third page description language. If the language of the specific command is a supported language (step S175: Yes), the language of the specific command is designated as the language to be used next time (step S180), and the process proceeds to step S105.

  As described above, when the process proceeds to step S105 in the state where the language to be used next time is specified in step S180, as shown in FIG. 5B, the unprocessed code remaining on the reception buffer 13 is processed. Then, the processing after step S105 is performed. In this case, since the language is specified in step S180, the job control unit 15 determines that the language is specified (step S105: Yes) and then determines that the language is the corresponding language (step S110: Yes), the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the language specified in step S180 is activated (step S115). Therefore, as shown in the example of FIG. 5C, the code after the command PC unique to the second page description language is interpreted by the newly activated second language interpretation unit 14b.

  On the other hand, if the language corresponding to the specific command is not a language supported by the printer 1 (step S175: No), there is no means for accurately interpreting this command. By discarding the page data being created above and the print data PD remaining in the reception buffer 13 (step S185), printing of the received print data PD is stopped, and the processes in FIGS.

  As described above, in the first embodiment, a code of a command that cannot be interpreted is detected while the activated language interpretation unit 14 sequentially processes the code of the print data PD, and the command is detected in another language. When the interpretation unit 14 is a command specific to the corresponding language, the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the language of the specific command is newly activated. Then, the subject that performs language interpretation on the code remaining in the reception buffer 13 is switched to the newly activated language interpretation unit 14.

  According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

  (1) In the determination process in step S140, even when the language type used in the received print data PD cannot be correctly determined, during interpretation by the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the determined language, When a command specific to another language is detected as the determined language, the language is switched to language interpretation by the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the language of the specific command. Therefore, the code of the print data PD can be interpreted according to the command system of the language used for the received print data PD, and an appropriate print result based on an appropriate interpretation result can be obtained. Further, it is possible to prevent useless printing due to interpretation according to a command system of an erroneously determined language.

  For example, if the first page description language is a language for color printing, the second page description language is a language for monochrome printing, and has a command system similar to each other except for commands related to color designation, In the determination process of S140, the first page description language and the second page description language are likely to be erroneously determined, but a language having a similar command system can also be appropriately processed. Specific examples of languages having command systems similar to each other include a case where the first page description language is ESC / C and the second page description language is ESC / P. Since ESC / C is a print control command that extends ESC / P, it has a similar command system. In this case, the decision table T may be associated with a command for designating a color conversion table unique to ESC / C. Furthermore, since such an environment setting command is before the drawing command in the page description part, it can be changed to an appropriate language interpretation part 14 at an earlier stage without unnecessary interpretation.

  (2) Since an appropriate print result is obtained by switching the language during interpretation without changing the processing content of the determination processing in step S140, the processing time required for the determination processing does not become longer. . Therefore, a more appropriate print result can be obtained without extending the time from when the print data PD is received until printing is started.

  (3) If the language of the command specific to the other language is not a language supported by the printer, that is, if none of the language interpreters 14a to 14c corresponds to the language of the specific command, in step S185, the page The page data being created in the memory 17 and the print data PD remaining in the reception buffer 13 are discarded, and the processing for the received print data PD is stopped. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent useless printing caused by forcibly interpreting the print data PD described in a language that cannot be handled by the printer 1 according to a command system of an incorrect language.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, since the code once interpreted is not guaranteed to be stored in the reception buffer 13, the switched language interpretation unit 14 uses the code interpreted by the language interpretation unit 14 before switching. Could not be interpreted. Therefore, in the processing example of FIG. 5, when a drawing command is described before the command PC specific to the second page description language, an interpretation of an appropriate language interpretation unit 14 is performed for some objects. There was a possibility that it could not be printed properly based on the results. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, the printer 100 according to the second embodiment is further provided with a code buffer 30 in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, and each language interpreter 14 codes the interpreted code as a code. Store in buffer 30. When the language interpretation unit 14 is switched, the switched language interpretation unit 14 refers to the code buffer 30 to reinterpret the interpreted code. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  The procedure of print control processing according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. When the print control process is started, the process starts from step S200. Steps S200 to S215 are the same as steps S100 to S115. After interpreting the code of the job description part PDa in step S200, it is determined that there is no language designation (step S205: No) or that the designated language is not a corresponding language (step S210: No). The control unit 15 determines the page description language (step S240), and activates the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the determined language (step S245).

  Next, the activated language interpretation unit 14 interprets an unprocessed code in the print data PD and stores the interpreted code in the code buffer 30 (step S250). The subsequent steps S255 to S285 are the same as steps S155 to S185 in the first embodiment. When the first language interpretation unit 14a starts language interpretation from the beginning by repeating the processes of steps S250 to S270, the interpreted codes are stored in the code buffer 30 one after another as shown in FIG. The description from the top to the command PC specific to the second page description language is stored in the code buffer 30. Then, it is determined that the command PC is specific to the language of the other language interpreter 14 (step S255: Yes), and if the language is supported by the specific command PC (step S275: Yes), the language of the specific command PC is changed. The language to be used next time is designated (step S280), and the process proceeds to step S205.

  When the process proceeds to step S205 with the language specified in step S280, the process from step S205 is performed on the unprocessed code remaining on the reception buffer 13. In this case, since the language to be used is designated in step S280, the job control unit 15 determines that the language is designated (step S205: Yes), and is the corresponding language (step S210: Yes). ) And activates the language interpreter 14 corresponding to the language specified in step S280 (step S215). Next, the job control unit 15 determines whether or not data is stored in the code buffer 30 (step S217). If the data is stored (step S217: Yes), the language interpretation unit started in step S215. 14 interprets the code stored in the code buffer 30 (step S219), and then proceeds to step S220. In the example of FIG. 9, since the first language interpretation unit 14a cannot interpret the command PC specific to the second page description language, the second language interpretation unit 14b is activated, and the newly activated second language interpretation unit 14b is The code stored in the code buffer 30 is interpreted in accordance with the command system of the second page description language (see FIG. 9B).

  If the received print data PD is designated as a corresponding language, the processing of FIG. 7 is started, and then the processing of steps S200 to S217 is performed in order, and the data is stored in the code buffer 30. If it is determined that it is not stored (step S217: No), the process proceeds to step S220 without interpreting the code stored in the code buffer 30.

  About the process after step S220, similarly to the process of step S120-135 based on a 1st Example, it interprets in order from the unprocessed head and prints for every page. In the example of FIG. 9, as shown in FIG. 9C, the newly activated second language interpretation unit 14 b interprets unprocessed codes stored in the reception buffer 13 one after another. As a result, all the codes in the page description part PDb of the received print data PD are interpreted by the second language interpretation part 14b. When printing is completed for all the pages of the print data PD, the processes in FIGS.

  According to the second embodiment, in addition to the effects (1) to (3) of the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

  (4) In the processing after the language interpretation unit 14 that is the subject of language interpretation is switched, there is no guarantee that the code that has been interpreted by the language interpretation before switching remains in the reception buffer 13, but the code buffer 30 is referred to. As a result, the switched language interpretation unit 14 can reinterpret the interpreted code. Accordingly, it is possible to correctly interpret the contents to be printed of the print data PD by reinterpreting all the codes of the page description part PDb by the appropriate language interpretation part 14.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described. In the first embodiment, since there is no guarantee that the code once interpreted remains in the reception buffer 13, the code of the page description part PDb of the print data PD in the processing after switching the language interpretation part 14 Cannot be reinterpreted. For this reason, when the environment setting command for setting the printing environment is included in the page description part PDb, the setting of the printing environment cannot always be correctly reflected in the processing after the language interpreting part 14 is switched. . Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, the printer 200 according to the third embodiment further includes a setting information buffer (third storage means; 2 setting information buffer 40 "), and the setting information of the environment setting command is stored in the second setting information buffer 40. When the language interpretation unit 14 is switched, the switched language interpretation unit 14 sets the printing environment by referring to the second setting information buffer 40. In the third embodiment, the setting information buffer 19 used by the job control unit 15 is referred to as a “first setting information buffer 19”.

  Next, the procedure of the print control process according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  When the print control process is started, the process is started in order from step S300. Steps S300 to S315 are the same as steps S100 to S115 in the first embodiment. First, in step S300, the job control unit 15 interprets the code of the job description unit PDa stored in the reception buffer 13, acquires an environment setting command and a language designation command, and sets setting information about the environment setting command. The printing environment is set by storing in the one setting information buffer 19. In the processing example of FIG. 13 showing a processing example when language interpretation by the first language interpretation unit 14a is started, the environment setting command SC1 described in the job description unit PDa is interpreted as shown in FIG. 13A. Thus, the printing environment is set by storing the setting information defined by the environment setting command SC1 in the first setting information buffer 19.

  Next, when there is no language designation by the language designation command (step S305: No), or when it is determined that the designated language is not a corresponding language (step S310: No), the job control unit 15 displays the page description language. (Step S340), and activates the language interpreter 14 corresponding to the determined language (step S345).

  Next, the activated language interpreter 14 interprets the unprocessed code of the page description part PDb (step S350), and determines whether or not the command acquired by the language interpretation is a command specific to another language ( Step S355). If the command is not specific to another language (step S355: No), it is then determined whether or not the command acquired by interpretation is an environment setting command (step S356). If it is an environment setting command (step S356: Yes), the activated language interpretation unit 14 sets the printing environment specified by the acquired environment setting command and stores the setting information of the printing environment in the second setting information buffer 40. Then (step S358), the process proceeds to step S360. As a result, as shown in FIG. 13B, when the print environment setting command SC2 is included in the code from the top of the page description part PDb to the command PC specific to the second page description language, The setting information of the printing environment is stored in the second setting information buffer 40. If the command is not an environment setting command (step S356: No), the process proceeds to step S360.

  The subsequent processes in steps S360 to S385 are the same as those in steps S160 to S185 in the first embodiment. By repeating the processes in steps S350 to S370, the first language interpretation unit 14a converts the second page description language into the second page description language. The code leading up to the specific command is interpreted. If the code detected during the interpretation is a command specific to another language (step S355: Yes) and the language supported by the specific command (step S375: Yes), the language of the specific command is changed to the next time. (Step S380), the process proceeds to step S305.

  As described above, when the processing proceeds to step S305 in a state where the language to be used is specified in step S380, the processing after step S305 is started on the unprocessed code remaining on the reception buffer 13. In this case, since the language to be used is specified in step S380, the job control unit 15 determines that the language is specified (step S305: Yes) and is the corresponding language (step S310: Yes), and the job control unit 15 activates the language interpreter 14 corresponding to the designated language (step S315). Then, the activated language interpretation unit 14 determines whether or not the setting information is stored in the second setting information buffer 40 (step S316). If the setting information is stored (step S316: Yes), the second setting information is stored. A printing environment according to the setting information stored in the buffer 40 is set (step S318), and the process proceeds to step S320. As a result, as shown in FIG. 13C, since the first language interpretation unit 14a cannot interpret the command PC specific to the second page description language, the second language interpretation unit 14b is activated and the second language interpretation unit 14b is activated. The language interpretation unit 14b reads the setting information stored in the second setting information buffer 40 and sets the printing environment according to the setting contents of the environment setting command SC2.

  Note that in the case of print data in which the language is designated in the language corresponding to the printer 200 by the language designation command instead of the language designation in step S380, the processing in FIG. 11 is started, and the processing in steps S300 to S315 is performed in order. , It is determined that the setting information is not stored in the second setting information buffer 40 (step S316: No), and the process proceeds to step S320.

  As for the processing after step S320, as in the processing of steps S120 to S135 according to the first embodiment, the activated language interpretation unit 14 interprets each page in order from the top of the unprocessed code. Is printed. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 13C, the code after the specific command PC is interpreted by the second language interpretation unit 14b. When printing is completed for all the pages of the print data PD, the processing in FIGS.

  According to the third embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects (1) to (3) of the first embodiment.

  (5) Even in the processing after the language interpretation unit 14 that interprets the print data PD as a main body is switched, the setting of the print environment described in the page description unit PDb (in the example of FIG. 13, the environment setting command SC2 Setting contents) can be taken over from the process before switching and reflected. Therefore, even if there is no guarantee that the environment setting command remains in the reception buffer 13, after switching the language interpretation unit 14, printing is performed according to the printing environment specified in the print data PD, and the contents of the print data PD are printed accurately. be able to.

  The first to third embodiments have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to these modes, and the following modifications may be made.

  (Modification 1) In the second embodiment, by storing the interpreted code in the code buffer 30, the switched language interpretation unit 14 can re-interpret the interpreted code. In the embodiment, by storing the print environment setting information in the second setting information buffer 40, the print environment setting information can be taken over by the language interpretation after switching. As a first modification, a configuration having both the characteristics of the second embodiment and the characteristics of the third embodiment may be adopted. That is, a part of the interpreted code is stored in the code buffer 30 and the setting information of the environment setting command is stored in the second setting information buffer 40. After the language interpreting unit 14 is switched, the language interpreting unit 14 The interpreted code stored in the code buffer 30 may be reinterpreted after setting the printing environment with reference to the setting information in the second setting information buffer 40.

  (Modification 2) The range in which the determination of the unique command in step S155 may be limited. For example, the determination in step S155 may be performed only for the first page of the print pages included in the print data PD, and the determination in step S155 may not be performed for the second and subsequent pages. Alternatively, the determination in step S150 may be performed only for data of a predetermined size from the top.

  (Modification 3) In the above embodiment, in the process after starting the language interpreter 14 corresponding to the language according to the language designation command (steps S120 to S135 in the first embodiment), a command specific to another language is used. Judgment is not made if there is any. As a third modification, even if the language interpreter 14 corresponding to the language according to the language designation command is activated, if there is a language that cannot be interpreted, it is determined whether the command is unique to another language. If the command is specific to another language, the language interpretation unit 14 may be switched. In this way, for example, if the language specified by the language specification command is different from the language actually used, that is, if the language specification by the language specification command is incorrect, Instead of the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the designated language, the print data can be interpreted by the language interpretation unit 14 corresponding to the appropriate language, and an appropriate print result can be obtained.

  (Modification 4) Although the printer 1 of the above embodiment is an electrophotographic page printer, the printing apparatus is not limited to this, and is an apparatus capable of interpreting the page description language and performing printing. If there is, a copier or a fax machine may be used.

1 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a printer according to a first embodiment. The figure which showed the data structure of print data. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of print control processing. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of print control processing. It is a figure for demonstrating a printing control process, (a)-(c) is a figure which showed the state of the receiving buffer. The figure which showed the hardware constitutions of the printer which concerns on a 2nd Example. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of print control processing. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of print control processing. It is a figure for demonstrating a printing control process, (a)-(c) is a figure which showed the state of the receiving buffer and the code buffer. The figure which showed the hardware constitutions of the printer which concerns on a 3rd Example. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of print control processing. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of print control processing. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a print control process, and FIGS.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printer as a printing apparatus which concerns on 1st Example, 10 ... Controller, 11 ... Communication I / F as receiving means, 12 ... Network I / F as receiving means, 13 ... As 1st memory | storage means Reception buffer, 14 ... language interpreting unit as interpreting means, 14a ... first language interpreting unit, 14b ... second language interpreting unit, 14c ... third language interpreting unit, 15 ... job control unit as control means, 16 ... drawing Processing unit, 17 ... page memory, 18 ... engine control unit, 20 ... print engine as printing means, 30 ... code buffer as second storage means, 40 ... setting information buffer as third storage means, 100 ... A printer as a printing apparatus according to the second embodiment, 200... A printer as a printing apparatus according to the third embodiment, PD... Print data, T.

Claims (6)

Receiving means for receiving print data described in a page description language;
A plurality of interpretation means capable of interpreting descriptions of different page description languages;
Control means for selecting the interpretation means corresponding to the page description language of the received print data, and causing the selected interpretation means to interpret the description of the print data;
Printing means for performing printing based on the interpretation result of the print data,
The control means includes
In the language interpretation by the selected interpretation means, when a description specific to the page description language corresponding to the other interpretation means is detected, it is used for the specific description instead of the selected interpretation means. A printing apparatus that causes interpretation means corresponding to a given page description language to interpret the print data. The printing apparatus according to claim 1,
First storage means for storing the received print data, and maintaining at least the description before interpretation of the description of the print data;
Second storage means for storing a description that has been interpreted by the selected interpretation means;
In the interpretation by the selected interpretation means, when a description specific to the page description language corresponding to the other interpretation means is detected, the interpretation means corresponding to the page description language used for the specific description is: A printing apparatus characterized by interpreting a description stored in the second storage unit and then interpreting a description after the unique description stored in the first storage unit. The printing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The print data includes a setting command for setting a printing environment,
A third storage means for storing print environment setting information acquired by the selected interpretation means interpreting the setting command;
In the language interpretation by the selected interpretation means, when a description specific to the page description language corresponding to the other interpretation means is detected, the interpretation means corresponding to the page description language used for the specific description The printing apparatus interprets descriptions after the unique description after setting a printing environment based on setting information stored in the third storage unit. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The control means includes
When the received print data includes a command that specifies a page description language, the interpreter corresponding to the specified page description language is selected, and the selected interpreter interprets the print data.
If the received print data does not include a command for specifying a page description language, the page description language used in the received print data is determined, and the interpretation means corresponding to the determined page description language is A printing apparatus that selects and causes the selected interpretation means to interpret the print data. The printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The control means includes
If the selected interpretation means detects a description that cannot be interpreted, and if the uninterpretable description is a description specific to the page description language to which the other interpretation means corresponds, the selected interpretation means is replaced. The interpretation means corresponding to the page description language used for the specific description,
A printing apparatus that stops printing of the received print data if the description that cannot be interpreted is not a description that is specific to the page description language supported by the other interpretation means. Receiving means for receiving print data described in a page description language;
A plurality of interpretation means capable of interpreting descriptions of different page description languages;
A printing unit that performs printing based on the interpretation result of the print data, and a print data processing method of a printing apparatus comprising:
Selecting the interpretation means corresponding to the page description language of the received print data, causing the selected interpretation means to interpret the description of the print data;
In the language interpretation by the selected interpretation means, when a description specific to the page description language corresponding to the other interpretation means is detected, it is used for the unique description instead of the selected interpretation means. A print data processing method for a printing apparatus, which causes an interpreter corresponding to a page description language to interpret the print data.

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