JP2710119B2 - Output device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a plurality of phones based on input attribute information.
Output device that selects and outputs a specific font from the list
About. [Prior art] Conventionally, line printers and character display devices
Information output devices equipped with a single type of font
Was for the most part. But recently, high-precision displays
Spread of devices and high-resolution impact printers and large-capacity ROM
(Read Only Memory)
Devices that can handle clients are increasing. And this kind of equipment
Have multiple fonts on the device itself
Not a few. Especially in the field of word processors
Printing and display will become increasingly indispensable in the future due to the type of font
Not only will it be different, but there will be many types of fonts
It is expected to be. Here, a sentence having the same attribute as a font
A set of character patterns. Its attributes include the character set (
Font system), typeface, character size, character pitch, character
The inclination, the thickness of the character, and the like are given. In addition, here is the character
In this case, symbols, figures, etc. shall be included. Here, the character size generally defines the size of the character.
The character pitch defines the width of the character.
It is. Conventionally, for such devices, for example, is a data source
To instruct the font to be used from the host,
Specifying the font identification name or font attribute
Had gone more. On the other hand, the information output device side
When equipped, output information at the font
But output the information when the specified font is not equipped
Can not. Therefore, stop printing or
In such a case, measures such as displaying an error were performed. That is,
The state in which no font is present is just an abnormal situation.
Was treated as Therefore, such a state does not occur
On the host side, the status of the information output device font
I needed to know the details. However, the type of font installed on the output device side
Is fixed and small type
The conventional method can be used satisfactorily.
When the host comes to equip the font,
Becomes extremely difficult. In particular, if the user
An output device that can change the state freely, for example, various types of
Detachable car with built-in hardware using large-capacity mask ROM
Multiple fonts can be supplied by memory on the trig
In an output device of such a form, the host grasps this.
It is almost impossible to do. For example, Font A
Output device with font A, but without font A
Output with font A 'with very similar attributes to font A
If there are devices, the host side will output
When outputting information to the device, the state of the font of each output device
Command, select font A, or
Command A 'must be separately commanded separately.
No. Even more, if you can change this freely, you can not manage
become. In other words, conventionally, the state of the font device of the information output device
And the host side completely depends on it.
Can only issue a font selection command. You
In other words, the host side is the main, anyway, like "A
Command to output it because it can be
I could not do it at all. Regarding the above problems, Japanese Patent Application No. 58-188351
Is the attribute of the requested font and the
Of attributes that are the same or similar
Select a font and output it in the selected font
Means "output in a font like A"
Is possible. [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Generally, when a selected font is printed,
The character feed amount is determined based on the character pitch of the font
Then, printing is performed with the determined character feed amount. here
The character feed amount is equivalent to the character spacing for printing etc.
(Horizontal Motion Index).
It will be described as the character feed amount or HMI. Now, in the above prior art, the specified font and
The same or similar font is selected and selected
When outputting fonts (printing, displaying, etc.), send each character.
The amount depends on the font size (character pitch) selected.
Determined uniquely. That is, specified by attribute information
The character pitch and the character feed amount correspond one-to-one. This
Depends on the character pitch of the selected font.
The character feed amount is determined by the
Can not do. For example, typeface parameter "5" and character pitch parameter
After printing with the font “9”, the character pitch parameter
The meter is the font of the font parameter "2" as it is
Change only typeface parameters to "2" for printing
Consider the case where you support Where the typeface parameter
The character pitch parameter is “9” for font “2”.
There is no such thing, and a font with a character pitch close to this
With a character pitch parameter of "10"
And According to the prior art, in the above example, the typeface parameter
By specifying “2” and character pitch “9”,
Font type parameter "2"
And font of character pitch parameter "10" is selected
Will be. That is, the character pitch is changed from “9” to “10”.
The character feed amount during printing changes accordingly.
Will be changed. For this reason, characters are
The desired print result cannot be obtained, for example,
It will get worse. The present invention has been made in view of the above prior art,
Update the character feed amount when outputting fonts
Control by attribute information for selection,
Reduces the burden of managing the amount of characters sent by the user
To provide an output device that can easily output characters
Aim. [Means for Solving the Problems] An output device of the present invention for achieving the above object stores a plurality of types of fonts having a unique character pitch.
Font storage means and attribute information input to specify fonts
Based on attribute information stored in the attribute information storage unit,
Selection of a font from the plurality of fonts
Character for specifying character selection amount and character feed amount when outputting characters
Character feed amount storage means for storing the feed amount, and attribute information input to specify the font
Whether to include character pitch information that specifies the character pitch of the
Determining means for determining whether or not character pitch information is included by the determining means
If selected, the phone selected by the selecting means
The character feed amount based on the character pitch information
Updating the character feed amount stored in the storage means;
When it is determined that character pitch information is not included by
Is the character feed amount stored in the character feed amount storage means.
Using the font selected by the selecting means,
The sentence is based on the character feed amount stored in the character feed amount storage means.
And developing means for developing characters. [Action] According to the above configuration, input is performed to specify a font.
When a font is selected based on the attribute information provided,
Determines whether the attribute information includes character pitch information
Is done. If character pitch information is included, select
Based on the character pitch information of the selected font,
The character feed amount for output such as display and printing has been updated.
You. On the other hand, if character pitch information is not included,
The amount is maintained at the same value. Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
I will tell. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information output apparatus according to an embodiment.
You. The configuration shown in the figure is transmitted from a print information source (computer) 1.
Input character code data and control commands
A printing machine that prints documents for each page, such as the beam printer
An example in the case of printing by the composition 16 is shown. In the figure, 1 indicates character code data and a control command.
Printing information consisting of a computer etc. as a source of generated printing information
It is a report generation device. 2 is generated from the print information generator 1
Interface for receiving character code data and control commands
3 is an input interface section composed of
An input to temporarily store character code data and control commands
Power buffer memory. This control command includes font selection.
Includes selection command. 4 is a general-purpose computer that performs arithmetic control of the entire apparatus.
Central processing unit (CPU) consisting of icroprocessors, etc.
It is. 5 is a font selected by the central processing unit 4.
In the font selection register indicating the head address of the
is there. 6 is composed of a read-only memory, etc.
Code converter that converts data to character patterns
A character pattern, which is a collection of multiple fonts
It is a turn generator. 7 stores the font of the font selected immediately before
8 is the font parameter of the font selection command.
Typeface register to store meter, 9 is font selection command
Character pitch register to store character pitch parameters
And 10 store the character inclination parameter of the font selection command.
Character inclination register, 11 is the font thickness of the font selection command
This is a character thickness register for storing a parameter. 12 is
Consists of random access memory (RAM), etc.
Select a font uniquely when a selection command is given
Fonts classified by font attribute
Selection table memory, 13 is font selection table
Table pointer used to search memory 12 sequentially
It is a register. 14 is a dot tie sent from the central processing unit 4
One page of print information (character pattern)
Output page buffer memory to store the time, 15 is the output page buffer.
The dot signal sent from the buffer memory 14 is
An output interface that converts the signal into a signal and supplies it to the page printer 16
The face department. The page printer 16 has its video signal
To actually print the character image on the recording medium. 107 is an H for storing that the pitch parameter has been specified.
MI update flag, 108 is the character feed amount when printing each character
(HMI) is an HMI register. 2 (A) to 2 (D) are diagrams showing a configuration example of a control command.
is there. The control commands in this example are for European fonts.
It shall be configured. First, FIG. 2 (A) shows the configuration of a font selection control command.
And, as shown, following the font selection command 17,
Four parameters determine which font to select.
Specified by parameters 18-21. Four parameters 18-21 are large
It keeps the direction from classification to small classification, and furthermore,
The meter has a fixed length, so between each parameter
No delimiter is provided. The highest attribute parameter is
Body parameter 18. This typeface parameter 18 is
This is equivalent to a loose typeface (type face).
Is specified by the number. Which number indicates which typeface
Is determined in advance. An example
For example, the Paika typeface is designated by “1”
The body should have rules such as “5”
And The second attribute parameter is the character pitch parameter.
Data 19. This character pitch parameter 19 is the character water
This indicates the amount of feed in the horizontal direction.
Specify pitch by CPI (how many characters are printed per inch)
It shall be. The third attribute parameter is character inclination
Parameter 20 is the so-called italic finger
Make a presentation. For example, “0” indicates a solid and “1” indicates italic
Shall be The fourth attribute parameter is the character thickness parameter.
The parameter 21 indicates the thickness of the character line. An example
For example, “0” indicates standard type and “1” indicates bold type.
I do. Specific examples of font selection commands according to the above rules
It is shown in FIG. 2 (B). By this control command, the font 5 (example
For example, Time Slow Man), which is equivalent to a character size of 8 CPI
Italic, bold body selection has been ordered
You. It is necessary to indicate all parameters
There is no. Those attributes that were ordered just before and do not need to be changed are
In this case, the sign of “=” may be indicated in the parameter portion.
For example, after the selection command shown in FIG.
When characters are printed and only the character pitch is changed,
2 If the command is performed as shown in Fig. (C), the character pitch will be 10CPI.
Is selected. Also, for example, the selection command shown in FIG.
After printing, print the required characters and change only the character inclination.
If you want to do that, you can issue a command as shown in Fig. 2 (D).
"Upright" with a slope is selected. What is important here is the command shown in FIGS. 2 (B) and 2 (C).
If you select a font, the selected font
Ont's unique character pitch allows the current HMI amount to be
That is to update. In addition, the command shown in FIG.
Command, select the font and then
HMI amount depending on the unique character pitch of the font
Without updating the HMI, and maintaining the previous HMI volume.
You. This is determined by the presence or absence of the character pitch parameter.
It is. In other words, if you do not want to update the HMI
This means that the pitch parameter may be omitted. FIG. 3 shows the fonts required for font selection.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration and arrangement of a selection table memory 12. This
Here, 23 is a typeface table, 24 is a character pitch table, 25
Is a character tilt table, 26 is a character thickness table,
A surrounded by a line is a set of fonts of typeface "2", and B is a typeface
A set of fonts of type "5", and C is a font of type "7"
Is a set of Next, the flow charts of FIGS. 4 and 5 (A) and (B) will be described.
An operation example of the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. printing
Document data and font selection finger from information generation device 1
The command is input once through the input interface unit 2.
After being stored in the memory 3, the central processing unit 4
Supplied. The central processing unit responds to this font selection command.
The processing device 4 selects the font in step S1 of FIG.
The table memory 12 is initialized. That is, implemented
From the character pattern generator 6 to the attribute of each font.
Information in the font selection table memory 12
3. Assemble the table as shown in the figure. First, calligraphy
Using the face number as a key, sort in ascending order
Stored in typeface column 27. Next, different fonts with the same typeface number
For fonts of character pitch, use character pitch as a key
Character pitch in character pitch table 24
Column 29, and the first address of the character pitch table 24 is stored.
Next pointer of the corresponding font number in the font table 23
Stored in column 28 and the character pitch table from typeface table 23
Take the link to Le 24. Similarly, the character tilt table
25 and the text thickness table 26
Each font is entered in the font address column 34 of the character thickness table 26.
Stores the start address of the font and stores it in the font selection table
The initialization of the memory 12 ends. The font selection table shown in FIG.
In the example of the table 12, 21 kinds of
Fonts exist and are classified into large sets A to C of three typefaces.
It will be in the state that has been. Then, the central processing unit 4 proceeds to step S2.
Previous font register 7, Font register 8, Character pitch register
Data 9, character inclination register 10 and character thickness register 11
Initialize each register. In this initialization,
If any character pattern generator 6 exists
Default font attribute (if omitted)
Is stored. Furthermore, the font selection register 5 has a default
The start address of the default font is stored. Further HMI
Turn off the update flag and set the default font
Set the contents of HMI register 108 according to the character pitch of
You. Next, proceed to step S3 to input a one-character code.
Read from memory 3 and discriminate in step S4
If the result is not the end of character data, go to step S5.
Then, it is determined whether or not the command is a font selection command 17. If the font selection command 17 has not been read, the
From step S5 to step S6, the output page memory 14
Not satisfied by one page of character code data
Is determined, and if it is not satisfied, step
Jump to S8 and read the pattern corresponding to the input character code
Is expanded in the output page memory 14. That is, Huo
Character base-addressed by the event selection register 5.
From the pattern generator 6, a dot corresponding to the input character code
The central processing unit 4 reads out the
Under the memory position control, one character in the output page memory 14
Expand the character dot pattern of. Character printing at this time
The feed amount of the later unfolding position takes the value of the HMI register 108
And Then, enter the next one-character code in the buffer memory.
Returning to step S3 again to read from step 3,
This process until the font selection command is read
Is repeated. In step S6 during such an iterative process, the output
Page memory 14 is filled with one page of character data
If it is determined that the error has occurred, in the next step S7, 1
Outputs dot signals for each scan line
The video signal is supplied to the
The character pattern is recorded by the page printer 16
Print on the medium, and then expand the output page memory 14
Then, the process proceeds to step S8 described above. Also, in step S5 in the middle of such an iterative process,
When it is determined that the font selection command 17 has been read
Proceeds to step S9 to execute the font selection routine described later.
(See FIGS. 5 (A) and (B).)
After that, the process returns to step S3 again. Further, in step S4 during the printing process as described above,
And a code indicating the end of the printing job or the end of the file
End code that signals the end of print information data such as a code that indicates
If the mode is determined, go to step S10 and output
Code data remains in the page memory 14
It is determined whether or not the above process is complete.
Completed, and if there is any
Process after printing character string data by page printer 16
Complete the process. Next, referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, font selection is performed.
The routine will be described in detail. The main processing steps described above (me
In step S3 of the in-routine, the
Font selection route in step S9 according to the font selection command 17.
When the chin is called, first input in step S201
From buffer memory 3, four parameters 18 to 21 (FIG. 2)
Read out) and store them in the corresponding registers 8 to 11 respectively.
Store. That is, the font parameter, which is the first parameter,
In the typeface register 8 of the value of the data 18, the second parameter
The value of the character pitch parameter 19 is the character pitch register 9
In addition, the value of the character inclination parameter 20, which is the third parameter, is
Sentence in the character tilt register 10 and the fourth parameter
The value of the character thickness parameter 21 is stored in the character thickness register 11
Stored. However, if the above parameters 18 to 21 have “=”
When the sign is specified, it is assumed that parameter specification is omitted.
None, saves the contents of the corresponding register with the previous value.
You. Then, in step S202, the character pitch parameter
Is determined or omitted (=)
If specified, the HMI is updated in step S203.
Turn on the new flag and store it. Then, in step S22, the table pointer register
Font type table in font selection table memory 12
After storing and initializing the value of the first address of 23, the next
Proceed to step S23 to point to the table pointer register 13.
Key in the font number column 27 (see FIG. 3)
Between the value in the font number column 27 and the value in the font register 8
Matching is performed, and the matching result is obtained in step S24.
Judge. As a result of matching, the font number in the font table 23
If the value in column 27 matches the value in typeface register 8
For example, select that value in step S26.
To be determined. On the other hand, the font number field 27 matches the value of the font register 8
If none, the specified typeface is currently implemented.
Does not exist in the character pattern generator 6
Ignoring the typeface parameter
In step S25, it is stored in the previous typeface register 7.
After transferring the value of the immediately preceding typeface to the typeface register 8,
Returning to step S23, the process again proceeds to step S24, and
In step S26, the font immediately before is adopted and the font is changed.
No. This is the closest typeface if the typeface is specified.
Is not uniform, so it is extremely difficult to select approximations.
Difficult and not very meaningful,
It is more natural to do font selection with the previous typeface
Because. Note that the first font selection command is
Therefore, even if the fonts do not match,
Default is already set in step S2 of the main process.
Any question because the type number already stored is already stored
No title arises. By step S26, determine the font type of the font
Then, in step S27, the determined font number
The value of the next pointer column 28 following the column 27
After the transfer to the inter-register 13,
The table pointer register 13 points to
The character pitch field 29 of the character pitch table 24 belonging to the typeface
(See FIG. 3) as a key, the value of the character pitch field 29 and the sentence
Match the value of the character pitch register 9 and step
At S29, the matching result is determined. As a result of the reconciliation,
The value of the character pitch field 29 and the value of the character pitch register 9 match.
If there is a match, select that value in step S30.
Determined as the character pitch of the font. On the other hand, the value of the character pitch register 9 is stored in the character pitch field 29.
If there is no match, the specified character pitch is actually
Existing in the implemented character pattern generator 6
In step S31
The value of the character pitch register 9 among the existing character pitches
Select the value of the character pitch closest to
Determined as Tsuchi. Then, in the next step S32, the decision is made.
Next pointer field 30 that follows the character pitch field 29
After transferring the value of
In step S33, the table pointer register 13
Characters belonging to the determined typeface and character pitch
The character inclination column 31 (see FIG. 3) of the inclination table 25 is used as a key.
Between the value of the character inclination column 31 and the value of the character inclination register 10.
Matching is performed, and the matching result is obtained in step S34.
Judge. As a result of the matching, the value of the character inclination column 31 and the character inclination
If there is a match with the value of register 10
In S35, determine that value as the character tilt of the selected font
You. Here, the character inclination is a binary value of italic / straight solid.
If italic is specified, select italic.
You will have to choose a solid. If the result of the comparison in step S33 is a mismatch,
In other words, italic is specified as the character inclination, but it is not implemented.
In the character pattern generator 6, there is an italic font.
If not, select it in step S36.
Determine the onto as a solid. Further, proceeding to step S37, the determined character inclination column 3
The value of the next pointer field 32 following 1 is stored in the table pointer.
Transfer to the inter-register 13 and then go to step S38
The table pointer register 13 points to
Character thickness table belonging to typeface, character pitch and character inclination
Using the character thickness column 33 of the bull 26 as a key, the value of the character thickness column 33
And the value of the character thickness register 11
In step S39, the matching result is determined. Matching result
As a result, the value of the character thickness column 33 and the value of the character
If there is a match, select that value in step S40.
Determined as the font thickness of the selected font. Where
In this example, since it is a binary value of the standard body / bold body,
If the standard type is specified, select the standard type.
If so, you will have to choose a bold body. If the result of the comparison in step S38 is a mismatch,
Although bold type was specified as the character thickness, it was implemented.
Bold font in the character pattern generator 6
If not, go to step S41.
To determine the selected character thickness as the standard type. In the above process
More attributes of typeface, character pitch, character inclination, and character thickness
Is uniquely determined, and the only font address 34 (see FIG. 3)
Teru) is selected. Further, the process proceeds to step S42, where the value of the typeface register 8 is read.
Transfer to the previous font register 7 and use it for the next font selection command
After preparing, in the next step S43
Transfer the font address 34 to the font selection register 5
After that, in step S44, the HMI update flag is ON.
Ask if it is or not, and if it is ON, select in step S45
The unique character pitch of the font
Update the contents of register 108 and update HMI in step S46.
After turning off the lag, complete the entire routine and
The process returns to the process (main routine). By the processing of such a font selection routine, the font is selected.
Font selection register 5 equals the attribute of the specified font.
Font address with attributes as close as possible
And is issued at step S8 in the main process.
The character pattern to be generated depends on the font address according to the font address.
Onto will be used hereinafter. For example, Huon
According to the font selection routine, the font selection shown in FIG.
Designation, that is, 8 CPI sentence of typeface 5 (Time Slow Man)
Select italic and bold fonts
The font selection command to set the font as shown in Fig. 3
When the output device is equipped with
Italic and bold font selected
Become. Also, the command specifies the character pitch parameter.
Update or skip the HMI depending on whether
HMI can be controlled by the user's will.
You. As described above, according to the present example, the fonts of the completely matched attribute are set.
Even if there is no font, a font with a close attribute is selected
The printing is continued. In this embodiment, font selection is performed according to four attributes.
Option type, but the type and number of attributes
Subdivide or remove unnecessary attributes
Can do enough. For example, character set (ASCII, JIS, IS
O Corresponding to the coding system of each language etc.) as the highest attribute
Or make the character size (point
Incorporating g) into attributes can be easily handled. Ma
In general, the character inclination attribute is not required for Japanese fonts.
Would. It is also possible to subdivide the attribute value itself.
is there. For example, in this example, the parameter of the character thickness is 0 (standard).
Quasi) 1 (bold), but multi-valued, extreme
Printing by making it thick, thick, standard, thin and extra-fine
The expressive power of things can be further enhanced. Furthermore, in this example, the parameter indicating the font attribute is used.
Data are all numerical data.
A humorous expression in the title notation, for example,
Specify "PICA" or "ELITE", etc., and set the character thickness to "reg
ular "or" bold "
It is also possible to enhance the notation of the ont selection command. As is apparent from the above description, according to the present embodiment,
Equipped with an output device font at the host that is the data source
Even if you don't fully understand the details of the state,
There is an advantage that a selection command can be issued. Specifically, according to the present embodiment, “character size 10
"If you have italic body,
It is possible to issue a command with the meaning of
Becomes At the same time, according to this embodiment, the output device side
Only a few fonts in the best condition with
If there are many kinds of fonts, fine
The effect that font selection can be performed is obtained. Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, only attributes that need to be changed are specified.
By omitting the specification of other attributes
Switch only, italic instructions, bold instructions, etc.
There is also an effect that it can be easily performed. Further, according to the present embodiment, an attribute having a font is specified.
Automatically specifies the font
HMI is updated with one unique character pitch, and
Is printed in.
That the HMI will not be updated even if the ont
It becomes possible. As described above, according to the present invention, a font is output
Update the character feed amount when printing (printing, displaying, etc.)
Whether the attribute information when changing the port includes the character pitch specification
Can be controlled depending on whether or not
Various and desired character output with reduced burden of feed amount management
Can be easily performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information output device according to an embodiment, FIGS. 2 (A) to 2 (D) are diagrams showing a configuration example of a control command, and FIG. 3 is a diagram of FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a configuration of a memory area of a font selection table memory, FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a print information data processing operation of the information output device of FIG. 1, and FIGS. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed example of the font selection processing operation in the processing process of a figure. In the figure, 1 ... a computer, 2 ... an input interface unit, 3
…… Input buffer memory, 4 …… Central processing unit (CP
U) 5, Font selection register, 6 ... Character pattern generator, 7 ... Previous font register, 8 ... Font register, 9 ... Character pitch register, 10 ... Character inclination register, 11 ... Character thickness Register, 12 ... font selection table memory, 13 ... table point register, 14 ...
Output page memory, 15 ... Output interface section, 16
…… Page printer, 107 …… HMI update flag, 108 …… H
MI register, 17: Font selection command, 18: Font parameters, 19: Character pitch parameter, 20: Character tilt parameter, 21: Character thickness parameter, 23: Font table, 24: Character pitch table , 25... Character inclination table, 26... Character thickness table, 27, 29, 31, 33... Search target column, 28, 30, 32, 34.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] Font storage means for storing a plurality of types of fonts each having a unique character pitch; attribute information storage means for storing attribute information input to specify the font; and attribute information stored in the attribute information storage means. Selecting means for selecting a font from the plurality of types of fonts based on the plurality of fonts; character feed amount storing means for storing a character feed amount for specifying a character feed amount when outputting characters; and Determining means for determining whether or not the input attribute information includes character pitch information designating the character pitch of the font; and selecting by the selecting means when the determining means determines that the character pitch information is included. The character feed amount stored in the character feed amount storage means is updated based on the character pitch information of the obtained font, and When it is determined that the character pitch information is not included, control means for holding the character feed amount stored in the character feed amount storage means as it is, and using the font selected by the selection means, the character An output device comprising: expansion means for expanding a character by the character feed amount stored in the feed amount storage means. 2. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the output device is a printer.