JP2012208765A - Print content change program, print content change method, and host device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a print content change program and the like, the program being a program for changing the content of printed matter using print data output by an existing application and capable of easily realizing various changes in print content without changing an existing program.SOLUTION: A program for causing a computer that is operated by an OS in an OS kernel layer and outputs printed matter from a printer connected to a communication port by an application in an application layer to execute content change processing of the printed matter, causes the computer to execute: a step for, before the communication port receives print data of printed matter output from the application, acquiring it in the OS kernel layer; and a step for, when data of a predetermined image or graphic is included in the acquired print data in the application layer, changing the data according to a conversion rule, and outputting the changed print data to the communication port.

Description

  The present invention relates to a program for changing the print contents of printed matter using print data output from an existing application, and in particular, various print contents can be easily changed without changing the program of the existing application. The present invention relates to a print content change program that can be realized.

  In retail sales businesses such as supermarkets, a POS system, which is a sales management system, has become widespread, and in this system, a plurality of terminal devices (registers) connected to a server via a network operate according to applications provided in the device. Execute the process. Also, normally, each terminal device is provided with a printer, and outputs a receipt or a coupon according to an instruction from the application. In addition, as a system having a configuration similar to the POS system with such output, there are a system used in a hospital, a system used in a transportation company, and the like.

  Even in such a system, it is necessary to expand functions in accordance with technical improvements and business improvement requests after introduction. The function expansion includes things such as wanting to improve the contents of printed matter output from a printer. Such a system is generally used as a business center at all times, and is often complicatedly linked with other systems. Therefore, it is usually not easy to modify the application.

  As for this problem, the following proposals have conventionally been made regarding the functions of the output processing system.

  The following Patent Document 1 describes a device that performs a modem function in a personal computer that can remove the microprocessor and memory required for a conventional modem without having to modify an existing application program. Has been.

  Further, in Patent Document 2 below, by accessing one communication port without changing the application, it is possible to cause a printer connected to another communication port to execute printing simultaneously. A device is described that enables it.

JP-A-8-69427 JP 2006-338443 A

  However, in the contents described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, only limited functions of the output system such as a modem function and a duplicate printing function are realized, and other requests such as various changes in printing contents are realized. I can't. Further, since the above-mentioned Patent Document 2 is processing in the OS kernel layer, there is a problem that function construction (program development or the like) is generally not easy and functions are limited.

In addition, when processing using print data output from a POS application is performed, a variety of print content processing techniques that can change image data included in the print data are desired.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is a program for changing the print contents of a printed matter using print data output from an existing application, and various changes to the print contents can be made without changing the program of the existing application. Is to provide a print content changing program that can easily realize the above.

  In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention provides a computer that outputs a printed matter from a printer that is operated by an OS kernel layer operating system and is connected to a communication port by an application layer application. A data acquisition step in which a print content change program for executing a process of changing the content acquires print data of a printed matter output from the application to the communication port at the OS kernel layer before the communication port receives the print data; In the application layer, the acquired print data is analyzed, and when the print data includes predetermined image or graphics data, the data is changed according to a predetermined conversion rule. Print data to the communication port And data changing step of, to the execution in the computer, is that.

  Furthermore, in the above invention, a preferable aspect thereof is characterized in that the conversion rule is information in which the image or graphics data is associated with the changed data.

  Furthermore, in the above invention, a preferable aspect thereof is characterized in that the conversion rule is prepared for each printed matter.

  Further, in the above invention, a preferred aspect is characterized in that, in the data changing step, the text data included in the acquired print data is changed and the layout of the printed matter is changed.

  Furthermore, in the above invention, according to one aspect, the computer includes a plurality of the communication ports, and the plurality of printers are connected to the communication ports. In the data changing step, the changed print data is displayed. The printer to be output is determined, and the changed print data is output to the communication port to which the printer is connected.

  In order to achieve the above object, another aspect of the present invention provides an operation of the printed material in a computer that is operated by an operating system of the OS kernel layer and outputs the printed material from a printer connected to a communication port by an application layer application. A print content changing method for changing content, wherein the computer acquires print data of a printed matter output from the application to the communication port before the communication port receives the print data in the OS kernel layer; The computer analyzes the acquired print data in the application layer, and when the print data includes data of a predetermined image or graphics, the data is changed according to a predetermined conversion rule. , Printing after the change It has a data change step of outputting over data to the communication port, and is that.

In order to achieve the above object, according to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a host device that operates by an operating system of an OS kernel layer and outputs a printed matter from a printer connected to a communication port by an application layer application. Before the communication port receives the print data of the printed matter output from the application to the communication port, the virtual port unit acquired by the OS kernel layer and the application layer analyze the acquired print data, A print content changing unit that changes the data according to a predetermined conversion rule and outputs the changed print data to the communication port when the print data includes predetermined image or graphics data; , Have.

  Further objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the embodiments of the invention described below.

It is a schematic block diagram which concerns on the embodiment of the POS terminal device to which this invention is applied. It is a schematic function block diagram of a POS terminal device. 3 is a diagram illustrating an image conversion rule 212. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of a print content change process. It is the figure which illustrated change of the printed contents of a receipt. It is a figure for demonstrating the improvement of a POS system.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, such an embodiment does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. In the drawings, the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals or reference symbols.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram according to an embodiment of a POS terminal device to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a schematic functional configuration diagram of the POS terminal apparatus. A POS terminal apparatus 2 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an apparatus to which the present invention is applied. In the apparatus, print data output from the POS application 201 is acquired by the virtual port 203 of the OS kernel layer 230. The acquired data is sent to the application layer 220, and the print data whose print content has been changed by the processing of the port handler 204, the data analysis unit 205, the image conversion unit 210, the data processing unit 206, and the command conversion unit 207 Thus, the data is output to the communication port 209 appropriate for the changed print data. In particular, when image data is included in the acquired print data, the print content after the change to the image data is immediately determined by the processing of the image conversion unit 210 independent of the data analysis unit 205. The POS terminal device 2 can easily realize various changes in the print contents without changing the program of the POS application 201 by executing such processing.

  In this embodiment, a POS system used in a supermarket or the like is assumed, and a plurality of POS terminal devices 2 are connected to a POS server 1 via a network 4 as shown in FIG. Yes. The POS server 1 is constituted by a computer system, and executes processing such as management of the plurality of POS terminal devices 2 and aggregation and management of various data acquired from the POS terminal devices 2.

  The POS terminal device 2 is installed at each cash register and is connected to the printer 3. The printer 3 outputs a receipt or a coupon according to the print data output from the POS terminal device 2. Therefore, the POS terminal device 2 is positioned as the host device of the printer 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, each POS terminal device 2 includes a POS terminal main body 21, a display 22, a keyboard 23, a barcode reader 24, a card reader 25, and the like. The display 22 displays the price of the product to the customer, and the keyboard 23 is used by the operator to input product information such as price and product code, and customer information such as sex and age. Further, the barcode reader 24 reads the barcode attached to the product to acquire product information, and the card reader 25 reads the information stored in various cards to acquire information necessary for settlement.

  The POS terminal main body 21 generates information to be printed on a receipt or a coupon based on information acquired from the keyboard 23, the barcode reader 24, and the card reader 25 described above, and outputs the information to the printer 3. The POS terminal main body 21 is configured by a computer and includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, an HDD and the like (not shown). A program of the POS application 201 described later and a program for changing print contents are stored in the HDD or the like, and each process is executed by the CPU operating in accordance with these programs.

  Further, the POS terminal device 2 has a functional configuration as shown in FIG. The POS application 201 performs a process of generating and outputting information to be printed on the receipt or coupon described above, and the data generated here is the original data before changing the print contents. The generated data is data in a format that can be output to the printer 3A as it is, or data in a format that is passed to the printer 3A driver 202. The former is generated in the case of simple print data such as printing of text only.

  The printer 3A driver 202 is a printer driver for the printer 3A, and the printer 3A can receive and print data output from the POS application 201 by a command depending on the model (device) of the printer 3A. Output as print data.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the POS application 201 and the printer 3A driver 202 are located in an application layer 220 on which a program executes each process based on an operating system (OS) of a computer. Both are constituted by a program stored in the HDD or the like for instructing each processing content and the CPU or the like for executing processing according to the program.

  Next, the virtual port 203 is an OS kernel in which the operating system is located before the communication port 209 receives print data (referred to as original print data here) output from the POS application 201 or the printer 3A driver 202. This is the part received by layer 230. Then, the virtual port 203 delivers the acquired original print data to the port handler 204.

  Next, the port handler 204, the data analysis unit 205, the image conversion unit 210, the data processing unit 206, the command conversion unit 207, the print change DB 208, and the image change DB 211 are portions for changing the print contents of the original print data ( The content of the print data output from the POS application 201 can be changed before being output to the printer 3 by the processing of these units.

  The port handler 204 transfers the original print data delivered from the virtual port 203 to the data analysis unit 205, and receives the print data after the content change (herein, referred to as post-change print data). A process of outputting the changed print data to the corresponding communication port 209 is performed.

  The data analysis unit 205 is a part that analyzes the original print data to determine the processing contents and determines the communication port 209 that outputs the changed print data.

  The image conversion unit 210 is a part specialized in image processing independent of the data analysis unit 205, which determines change contents for an image or graphics image object included in the original print data. The change contents after the processing are notified to the data analysis unit 205.

  The data processing unit 206 is a part that processes the original print data into changed print data in accordance with the processing content determined by the data analysis unit 205.

  The command conversion unit 207 uses different commands for the printer 3 connected to the communication port 209 specified by the original print data and the printer 3 connected to the communication port 209 from which the changed print data is output. In this case, it is a part for performing processing to change the command.

  The print change DB 208 is a database that stores various types of information used by the data analysis unit 205 to determine processing contents, and is provided in the HDD. The stored information includes rules for specifying the printed matter from the print data, text conversion rules that define the changed image data for a predetermined text object included in the print data, and used for the changed print data There is image data to be used.

  Next, the image change DB 211 is a database that stores image conversion rules 212 that the image conversion unit 210 refers to in order to execute the above-described processing, and is provided in the HDD. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the image conversion rule 212. As shown in FIG. 3, the image conversion rule 212 associates the pre-conversion image with the post-conversion image, and if there is an image or graphics corresponding to the “pre-conversion image” in the original print data, This means that the data should be converted to “image after conversion”.

  In the example of FIG. 3, for example, it means that the logo of ABC Company should be changed from what is shown in “image before conversion” to what is shown in “image after conversion”. The image conversion rule 212 is input in advance by the user of the POS terminal device 2, and the user can edit the contents as appropriate. The image conversion rule 212 is determined and stored for each printed matter. That is, when outputting a plurality of types of printed matter from the POS terminal device 2, the image conversion rule 212 is stored for each printed matter.

  A specific procedure of processing in the print content changing unit described above will be described later.

  Note that the virtual port 203, the port handler 204, the data analysis unit 205, the image conversion unit 210, the data processing unit 206, and the command conversion unit 207 each execute a process instructing a process performed by each unit and the process. The above-described CPU and the like are configured. The programs related to these portions correspond to the print content change program of the present invention.

  Next, the POS terminal device 2 includes communication ports 209A and 209B in the physical layer 240, which are connected to the printers 3A and 3B, respectively. Here, as an example, the communication port 209A is a COM communication port for serial communication, and the communication port 209B is a USB communication port for performing USB communication. For the printer 3, as an example, the printer 3A is a monochrome printer, and the printer 3B is a color printer. Here, two communication ports 209 are provided, and two printers 3 are connected to the POS terminal device 2, but the number of communication ports 209 and printers 3 to be connected is not limited to this, It may be 1 or 3 or more.

The present POS terminal apparatus 2 having the configuration described above is characterized by a process for changing the print contents for the original print data, and the specific processing procedure will be described below. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the processing procedure of the print content changing process.

  First, as described above, the original print data is output directly from the POS application 201 or via the printer 3A driver 202 (step S1). For example, the original print data is print data of a receipt that is assumed to be output from the printer 3A. Therefore, the communication port 209A is designated as the output destination communication port, and is expressed by a command depending on the printer 3A. Has been. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a change in the print contents of a receipt. Here, for example, the print data of the receipt shown in FIG. 5A is output. Note that the receipt shown in FIG. 5A is a monochrome printed matter.

  Next, the output original print data is received by the virtual port 203 before reaching the designated communication port (here, the communication port 209A) (step S2). This processing is realized by changing the (priority) setting of the registry so that the virtual port 203 receives data for any communication port 209, and the setting change is started by the OS. Sometimes executed. Thereafter, the received original print data is sent from the virtual port 203 to the port handler 204 of the application layer 220 (step S2).

  Next, the port handler 204 transfers the sent original print data to the data analysis unit 205 (step S3).

  The data analysis unit 205 interprets the command of the transferred original print data, and determines the processing content for the data, that is, the print content change content (step S4). Specifically, first, a printed matter is specified from a predetermined keyword or the like included in the original print data. For example, if a text object “receipt” is detected in the original print data, it is determined that the original print data is receipt data. To specify such a printed matter, the rules for that stored in the print change DB 208 described above are referred to.

  Next, the data analysis unit 205 divides the original print data into each object, and determines the changed contents for each object. The object division is performed by recognizing the lump as one object for each type of image object.

  If the object is an image or a graphic, the data analysis unit 205 passes the data and information of the specified printed matter (for example, information that it is a receipt) to the image conversion unit 210.

  The image conversion unit 210 accesses the image conversion DB 211, refers to the image conversion rule 212 of the printed material (for example, for receipt) based on the received printed material information, and passes the image or graphics data passed And “image before conversion” of the image conversion rule 212 are compared. The comparison process is performed by a general pattern matching method.

  As a result of the comparison, if there is an image that matches the received image or graphics in the “image before conversion”, the image conversion unit 210 is stored in the image conversion rule 212 corresponding to the “image before conversion”. Data of “image after conversion” is returned to the data analysis unit 205. On the other hand, if there is no match, the image conversion unit 210 notifies the data analysis unit 205 that the data is not converted (not changed).

When the divided object is text, the data analysis unit 205 determines the changed data according to the text conversion rule stored in the print change DB 208.

  As described above, when the determination of the converted data for each object is executed for all the objects, the data analysis unit 205 displays the converted content and the layout information after changing the printed content of the printed matter as the data processing unit. 206 is instructed to process the print data. This layout information is stored for each printed matter in the print change DB 208, and can be obtained by referring to it.

  In the example of the receipt shown in FIG. 5, (a) in FIG. 5 shows the print contents based on the original print data, and (b) in FIG. 5 shows the print contents after the change. The logo a1 in FIG. 5A is determined to be converted into the logo b1 in FIG. 5B according to the image conversion rule 212 illustrated in FIG. 3 by the processing of the image conversion unit 210 described above. . Similarly, it is determined that the image “a4” “SALE!” In the coupon added to the bottom of the receipt is converted to a colored image b4.

  Further, based on the layout information described above, it is decided to convert the store information a2 to b2 that has been changed to the right, and the date / time information a3 to b3 that has been changed in arrangement position, and a new text object b5 has been added. It is decided that In the example of the receipt, the data processing unit 206 is instructed to change such print contents.

  When the change content is determined and instructed in this way, the data processing unit 206 processes the original print data in accordance with the instructed content, and generates print data after the change of the print content (post-change print data). (Step S5). In the example of FIG. 5, the print data of the receipt shown in FIG. 5B is generated.

  In addition, since the print content after the change of the printed matter is determined at the stage of determining the change content, the data analysis unit 205 determines a printer 3 suitable for the print content, and a communication port to which the printer 3 is connected. 209 is notified to the port handler 204. For example, when the original print data is a monochrome receipt and the output from the POS application 201 to the communication port 209A toward the monochrome printer 3A becomes a color receipt after the print content is changed, The communication port 209B to which the color printer 3B is connected is notified that the changed print data should be output. Note that the determination and notification of the communication port may be performed immediately after the above-described identification of the printed material when the output destination communication port 209 is determined in advance for each printed material. In addition, when only one printer 3 is connected, this processing need not be performed.

  Next, the generated changed print data is passed to the command conversion unit 207. If it is necessary to change the command for the print data after change, command conversion processing is executed here (step S6). As described above, since the original print data is expressed by a command depending on the output destination printer 3, if the command of the original print data and the command of the determined output destination printer 3 are different, the output Convert the command to a suitable command first. In this embodiment, since the original print data is expressed by a command for the printer 3A, the command conversion process is executed when the output destination is changed to the printer 3B.

  The processed data is delivered to the port handler 204. When command conversion is not required, the changed print data transferred from the data processing unit 206 is delivered to the port handler 204.

Next, the port handler 204 outputs the transferred changed print data to the notified communication port 209 (step S7). In this embodiment, the data is output to the communication port 209A or the communication port 209B.

  Thereafter, the changed print data is transmitted from the communication port 209 to the connected printer 3, and printing by the print data is executed in the printer 3, and a printed matter such as a receipt is output (step S8). For example, a monochrome printed material (for example, a receipt) is obtained if output from the printer 3A, and a color printed material (for example, a receipt) is obtained if output from the printer 3B.

  The print content changing process in the POS terminal apparatus 2 is executed by the procedure described above.

  Note that the image conversion unit 210 may be provided with a so-called OCR function for reading characters and numbers represented by an image from the image. In this case, character and numeric data are stored in the “image before conversion” of the image conversion rule 212 described above, and read from the image or graphics data passed from the data analysis unit 205 by the OCR function. Letters or numbers may be compared. If there is a match, it is determined to convert the image into a corresponding “post-conversion image” in the same manner as described above.

  As described above, in the POS terminal device 2 according to the present embodiment, the print contents of the print data output from the POS application 201 can be changed. The print content changing function can be added to an existing POS system by a relatively easy method to improve the POS terminal device 2 and the POS system including the POS terminal device 2.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the improvement. This figure is the same functional configuration diagram as FIG. 2, and the solid line portion shows the existing POS terminal device and POS system before improvement described above. That is, the system before improvement is configured such that print data output directly from the POS application 201 or via the printer driver 202 is received by the communication port 209A and output from the printer 3A. And it is possible to make this POS terminal device 2 and the POS system containing it by adding the part shown with a dotted line with respect to the system of such a structure.

  That is, without changing the existing POS application 201, it is possible to change the printed matter from the existing POS system by adding the above-described print content change program, the data of each DB 208 and 211, and the new printer 3B. It becomes possible. This improvement (addition) can be executed by the operation of installing a new printer 3B and installing the printer driver software including the program and data. In addition, the improvement which adds the said program and data is also possible without including the new installation of the printer 3. FIG.

  In this way, by using the print content change program according to the present embodiment, the contents of the printed matter output from the existing system can be included in an easy way without changing the existing POS application program. Can be changed in various ways.

  In addition, since the main print content changing process is configured to be performed in the application layer of the computer, it is possible to easily develop a program for executing various processes.

In addition, since the user can edit the contents of the image conversion rule 212 as appropriate,
The contents of images and graphics can be changed freely. Further, the image conversion rule 212 can be prepared for each printed matter, and a change corresponding to each printed matter can be performed.

  In the present embodiment, the POS server 1 is a system connected to a plurality of POS terminal devices 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and is in an environment where a POS terminal device and a printer are connected. It can be applied to.

  In the present embodiment, an example of a POS system is shown. However, the present invention is not limited to a POS system, but a predetermined application including output of printed matter from a printer, such as a system used in a hospital or a transportation company. The present invention can be applied to a provided system, and is particularly effective when it is difficult to modify an existing application program.

  The protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but covers the invention described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

1 POS server, 2 POS terminal device, 3 printer, 4 network, 21 POS terminal body, 22 display, 23 keyboard, 24 barcode reader, 25 card reader, 201 POS application, 202 printer 3A driver, 203 virtual port, 204 Port handler, 205 data analysis unit, 206 data processing unit, 207 command conversion unit, 208 print change DB, 209 communication port, 210 image conversion unit, 211 image change DB, 212 image conversion rule, 220 application layer,
230 OS kernel layer, 240 physical layer

Claims (7)

A print content changing program that operates by an operating system of an OS kernel layer and causes a computer that outputs a printed material from a printer connected to a communication port by an application layer application to execute a process of changing the content of the printed material,
A data acquisition step of acquiring print data of a printed matter output from the application to the communication port by the OS kernel layer before the communication port receives the print data;
In the application layer, the acquired print data is analyzed, and when the print data includes predetermined image or graphics data, the data is changed according to a predetermined conversion rule. A print content change program that causes the computer to execute a data change step of outputting the print data to the communication port. In claim 1,
The conversion rule is information associating the image or graphics data with the changed data. In claim 1 or 2,
The conversion rule is prepared for each printed matter. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 3,
In the data change step, a change to text data included in the acquired print data and a change in the layout of the printed matter are further performed. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 4,
The computer includes a plurality of the communication ports, and the plurality of printers are connected to the communication ports.
In the data changing step, the printer that outputs the changed print data is determined, and the changed print data is output to the communication port to which the printer is connected. . A print content changing method for changing the content of a printed matter in a computer that operates by an operating system of an OS kernel layer and outputs a printed matter from a printer connected to a communication port by an application layer application,
A data acquisition step in which the computer acquires print data of a printed matter output from the application to the communication port before the communication port receives the print data in the OS kernel layer;
The computer analyzes the acquired print data in the application layer, and when the print data includes data of a predetermined image or graphics, the data is changed according to a predetermined conversion rule. And a data changing step of outputting the changed print data to the communication port. A host device that operates by an operating system of an OS kernel layer and outputs a printed matter from a printer connected to a communication port by an application layer application;
A virtual port unit that acquires print data of a printed matter output from the application to the communication port by the OS kernel layer before the communication port receives the print data;
In the application layer, the acquired print data is analyzed, and when the print data includes predetermined image or graphics data, the data is changed according to a predetermined conversion rule. And a print content changing unit that outputs the print data to the communication port.