JP2737845B2 - Character processing method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a character processing method and apparatus for generating a character pattern using vector font data.

[Related Art] Generally, in a document processing apparatus having a vector font,
Font data of a document to be displayed or printed is stored as line segment information constituting one character in the form of a vector represented by a display start position and an end position when the line is displayed. Further, as a method for realizing each line segment of such a vector font, there are a method using a straight line segment, a method using an arc or a cubic spline, or a method using a B-spline. Note that, of the vector fonts, a font representing the outline of a character by a vector is sometimes referred to as an outline font.

Vector fonts do not have font data for each character size as compared with fonts composed of dot matrices, and thus have the advantage of requiring less memory capacity, and the ability to play back characters and the like even when enlarged / reduced. There is an advantage that sticking does not occur.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Out of characters and the like composed of such vector fonts as outlines (contour lines), a plurality of vector fonts are combined into one character, such as a logo created with external characters. Some create patterns. When developing such fonts into pattern data, the outline (outline) of each font data is composed of a closed loop.
When combining the plurality of font data and converting the pattern data into pattern data, there is no problem when converting the data into a solid black dot pattern. However, when converting a dot pattern, for example, the outline (contour line) portion may be left. There was a case.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional example. Vector data corresponding to a contour to be superimposed among contours of a character / symbol pattern represented by a plurality of vector font data corresponding to one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines is provided. It is an object of the present invention to provide a character processing method and apparatus for generating a high-quality character symbol pattern by erasing and combining.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a character processing device of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, storage means for storing a plurality of vector font data corresponding to one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines, and when generation of one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines is instructed, Reading means for reading the plurality of vector font data stored in the storage means; synthesizing means for synthesizing the plurality of vector font data read by the reading means; and a vector font data synthesized by the synthesizing means. Generating means for generating one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines, wherein the synthesizing means superimposes a plurality of vector phones read by the reading means and contours of the character / symbol pattern represented by data; The vector data corresponding to the contour to be And wherein the synthesis of font data.

To achieve the above object, the character processing method of the present invention includes the following steps. That is, a character processing method in a character processing device having a font memory for storing a plurality of vector font data corresponding to one character symbol pattern over a plurality of lines, wherein generation of one character symbol pattern over a plurality of lines is instructed. And reads a plurality of vector font data stored in the font memory corresponding to the one character symbol, and superimposes a contour to be superimposed on a contour of the character symbol pattern represented by the read plurality of vector font data. The corresponding vector data is deleted, the plurality of vector font data are combined, and one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines is generated based on the combined vector font data.

[Operation] In the above configuration, a plurality of vector font data corresponding to one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines are stored, and when generation of one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines is instructed, the one character Corresponding to the symbol,
A plurality of stored vector font data is read out, and among the contours of the character symbol pattern represented by the read out plurality of vector font data, the vector data corresponding to the overlapping outline is erased, and the plurality of vector font data is deleted. A single character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines is generated based on the synthesized vector font data.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Description of Document Processing Apparatus (FIG. 1)] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the document processing apparatus according to the embodiment.

In the figure, when a character code is input, an address section 10 indicates a font address of a font storage section in which corresponding pattern data is stored, and 11 and 12 are font storage sections each storing a vector font. When there is a plurality of font data corresponding to one character code (for example, when a plurality of rows are to be described later), the two font storage units 11 and 12 are addressed by the address unit 10. 13 reads out the font storage units 11 and 12 and checks the font data to delete a common contour line.14 combines the font data of the font storage units 11 and 12 to input the character code. Is a synthesizing unit that creates a vector font corresponding to. Reference numeral 15 denotes a dot pattern conversion unit that converts the vector font synthesized by the synthesis unit 14 into dot pattern data.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a document processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a control unit that controls the entire document processing apparatus, and includes a CPU 101 and a CPU 1 such as a microcomputer.
ROM1 that stores the control program and various data of 01
02, includes a RAM 103 for temporarily storing various data as a work area of the CPU 101. Reference numerals 104 and 105 denote address tables that store font data addresses corresponding to the size of the character pattern.
Reference numeral 4 denotes a table for referring to font data 106 of a normal size (one line), and table 105 denotes an address table for reading font data 107 of a large size (a plurality of lines).

Both 106 and 107 are font memories that store font data such as characters in vector fonts.
Reference numeral 106 denotes font data having a normal character size, and reference numeral 107 denotes font data which is obtained by dividing font data having a size over a plurality of lines into the same size as the font data of the font data 106 as described later. .

Reference numeral 110 denotes a CRT display unit which displays an image corresponding to the dot information stored in the video memory 111, and displays input document information, messages to the operator, control data, and the like. Reference numeral 112 denotes a keyboard for inputting document information and control information by an operator, and 113 denotes a mouse for moving a cursor or the like on the CRT 110 to input a command by instructing a command image such as an icon or specifying a coordinate position on a screen. Etc. pointing device. Reference numeral 114 denotes a printer such as a laser beam, and 115 denotes the printer 114 and the control unit 10.
An interface unit that performs interface control with 0. Reference numeral 116 denotes an image memory for storing image data such as characters and the like, which is output to a printer 114 or the like in accordance with a command output from a keyboard 112, a mouse 113 or the like to form an image.

Reference numeral 117 denotes a bit management unit (BMU) used as a pattern developing means or a pattern deforming means in this embodiment, and the BMU 117 is a pointing / unifying unit.
When a deformation section for an arbitrary character string expanded and displayed on the CRT 110 and character deformation information for this character string are input from the device 113, the display data corresponding to each character indicated in the section can be deformed and expanded. it can.

[Explanation of Pattern Development (FIGS. 3 and 4)] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing character code pattern development processing in the document processing apparatus of this embodiment.

Reference numeral 201 denotes character data to be input. The data 201 includes data indicating a character code, a character size, and how many lines the character is displayed and output (including printing) (hereinafter, referred to as line data). Etc. are included. 202 is based on the input character size data, for example, a character pattern is created by a vector font if it is 16 points or more, and a character pattern is created by a dot pattern if it is less than 16 points. This is a size determination unit for switching.

Here, with respect to the flow of processing for creating a character pattern from the dot pattern data 205 in the upper part of FIG. 3, a pattern development processing by a vector font indicated by a processing block 220 is a main part of this embodiment. Hereinafter, the block 220 will be described.

The line determining unit 210 determines how many lines are subjected to pattern expansion for the character indicated by the input character code. The operation of the row determining section 210 is the row determining section 2.
It is basically the same as the operation of 03. Address table 21
In the case of 1, when displayed on one line, the font data of the vector font 212 is converted into dot data and pattern development is performed according to the line information from the line fetching determination unit 210, and pattern development is performed over a plurality of lines. At this time, the pattern is developed using a plurality of font data of the vector font 213.

Font 222 of vector font 213 is Integra “イ ン テ グ”
The font 223 of the vector font 213 indicates the upper half data of the integra symbol "∫", and the reference numeral 224 indicates the lower half font data of the integra symbol "∫".

Accordingly, when the character code of the Integra is input and the line-out determining unit 210 determines that the symbol “∫” is to be displayed and output in one line, the address table 211 stores the font data of the vector font 212. Reference is made to 222 for reading. On the other hand, if it is determined by the line fetching determination section 210 that the display is to be performed over a plurality of lines, for example, two lines, the font data 223 and 224 are read out from the address table 211, and each vector font is replaced by one vector font. The font is synthesized. The font data read out or synthesized in this manner is converted from vector fonts to dot image data by a dot conversion unit 214 shown in detail in FIG. 4, and output as dot character patterns.

On the other hand, if the character size is less than 16 characters, the character code is sent to the line-out determining unit 203 to determine how many lines are displayed. When the data is displayed in one line, the pattern data of the dot pattern data 205 is read out from the address table 204. When the data is displayed in a plurality of lines, a plurality of divided dots are read from the dot pattern data 206. Read the pattern. Here, as in the case of the vector fonts 212 and 213, the dot pattern data 20
The pattern data of 5 stores the dot pattern of the entire “∫”, and the pattern data of the dot pattern data 206 is the same as the pattern size of the dot pattern data 205 of the upper half and the lower half of “∫” respectively. I remember by size. A conversion unit 207 performs conversion such as enlargement or reduction of the read dot pattern data according to the number of rows.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the dot conversion unit 214 of the embodiment.

The dot conversion unit 214 receives the coordinate data constituting the vector font, and performs an affine transformation or the like by the transformation circuit 301 as necessary. Then, the converted coordinate data is sent to the contour drawing unit 302, and contour data such as characters is created. These contours are composed of closed curves, and 30
3 is a painting part 3 for painting the inside of these contour data.
03. Such a filling process is, for example, BASIC
It can be executed by the same processing as a language paint (PAINT) instruction.

[Description of Vector Font Synthesis Processing (FIGS. 5 to 9)
FIG. 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing outline data consisting of sample points obtained by sampling the kanji character "Ai" by the B-spline method.

In the figure, the sample points of the character "Love" are indicated by small circular dots, and are here arranged in a matrix of 512 × 512 dots. Here, each outline data is configured in a closed loop. The B-spline is created such that a spline is generated inside a sample point as a vertex with the start point and the end point of a certain curve section as fulcrums.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the vector font data of the upper half 60 and the lower half 61 of the integra symbol "@" developed by the B-spline method.

Here, the closed loop portion surrounding the hatched portion 64 of the upper half 60 is the vector font data above the integra symbol, and the closed loop surrounding the hatched portion 65 of the lower half is the vector font data below the Integra symbol. Here, the line segments 62 and 63 are a common vector font portion, and when combining two font data, the line segment portion is erased by, for example, taking an exclusive OR, etc. Part 64
And 65 are combined into one.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the vector font data of the hatched portion 64 of FIG. 6. Reference numeral 50 denotes a control information section storing data such as JIS code, vector font data size, and contour lines. The indicated column is a sample data area storing the coordinate values and attribute flags of each sample point, 71 is the coordinate value of point 66 in FIG. 6, 72 is the coordinate value of sample point 67, and 73 is the coordinate value of sample point 68. Coordinate values are stored, and 74 further stores the coordinate value of the last sample point 69. The attribute flag 53 stores the characteristics of each sample point. That is, 54 is a flag indicating that the sample point 66 is the starting point, and 55 is a flag indicating that the sample point 66 is a coordinate (sample) point common to the other vector font. According to the method using the exclusive OR described above, the points 66 and 69 are lost in white. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a process such as extracting the points in advance white before the exclusive OR is performed, or filling the points later. .

56 of the attribute flag 53 indicates that the sample point 67 in FIG. 6 is a curved section. As described above, the attribute flag 53 stores information indicating that an end point or a start point, an end point, or a straight line section of a curved section, information indicating that the end point is a point common to other vector fonts, and the like are stored. I have.

8 and 9 show address tables 104 and 105, respectively.
The address table 104 is an address table for addressing vector font data of the vector font 106, and the address table 105 is a vector font 107.
5 is an address table for addressing the vector font data of FIG.

In any of the tables, the management table stores the creation date of the font data, the file size of the font data, the start address of the font data, and the like. In the address area 80 of the address table 104, JIS
The address of the font data corresponding to the code is stored in 2 bytes. In the address area 81 of the address table 105, a plurality of divided font data corresponding to one character or symbol such as font data 223 and 224 in FIG. The font address is stored.

[Explanation of Pattern Development Processing (FIG. 10)] FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a pattern development processing by the control unit 100 of the document processing apparatus of this embodiment. ROM10
Stored in 2.

This program is started by inputting the character code,
In this case, a character code may be input from the keyboard 112 or the like, or one character code may be read from a document buffer or the like in the RAM 103. Thus, first, step S1
Then, the character code is input in step S2, and a line-cut determination is made in step S2, and it is determined whether the character code is expanded into one line by pattern expansion or expanded over a plurality of lines (step S3).

When printing or displaying multiple lines,
Proceeding to S4, referring to the address table 105, addressing a plurality of vector font data of the vector font 107,
In step S5, a plurality of font data addressed from the vector font 107 is read and stored in the RAM 103. Then, in step S6, the attribute flags of the respective coordinate points of the plurality of vector fonts read from the vector font 107 are checked, and whether the coordinate point is a coordinate point common to the coordinate point of the other vector font to be combined is checked. Look at it. This can be easily determined by the attribute flag 53 as described above. If it is a common point, the process proceeds to step S7, and the line segment connecting those points is deleted. For example, in FIG. 7, the data 74 indicating the sample point 69 in FIG.
Is changed to a flag indicating the final point of the closed loop, the vector font of the hatched portion 64 in FIG. 6 is not a closed loop, and the line segment 62 has been deleted. At this time, as described above, in order to prevent the portions of points 66 and 69 from being whitened, processing such as filling the portions of points is performed.

After erasing the line segment in this way, proceed to step S8,
The common coordinate point detected in step S6 and the common coordinate point of the other font data are reduced to one. This is shown in FIG. 11, where points 66 and 92 are one point 93, points 69 and 95
Are converted to one point 96. In this case, the hatched portion 64
It is needless to say that the vector font data in the hatched portion 65 is font data which is biased 512 dots in the Y-axis direction, based on the vector font data of FIG. In this way, it is checked in step S9 whether checking of all coordinate points has been completed, and if not completed, the process returns to step S6, but if completed, the process proceeds to step S10, where font data is synthesized as shown in FIG. The vector font is developed into a dot pattern and stored in the image memory 116.

On the other hand, if the character pattern is to be displayed or printed in one line in step S3, the process proceeds to step S12, where the font data of the vector font 106 is addressed by the address table 104, and the pattern data of one character from the vector font 106 is addressed in step S13. Is read. Then, in step S11, the character pattern is converted into a dot pattern and stored in the image memory 116. The pattern data stored in the image memory 116 is output to the printer 114 and printed, or stored in the video memory 111 and stored in the CRT.
Displayed at 110.

As described above, according to this embodiment, a plurality of vector fonts such as characters divided for each line are stored, and when the pattern of the characters or the like is printed or displayed over a plurality of lines, By combining the plurality of divided patterns and converting them into dot patterns, the dot patterns can be easily created.

In addition, when combining, it is possible to erase the line segment common between the vector fonts so that unnecessary borders between the vector fonts do not remain. Processing can be performed very easily.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, a vector corresponding to a superimposed contour among contours of a character / symbol pattern represented by a plurality of vector font data corresponding to one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines. By erasing and combining data, there is an effect that a high-quality character symbol pattern can be generated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the document processing apparatus according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the document processing apparatus according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 illustrates pattern development processing in the document processing apparatus according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the dot conversion unit shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing sample points of characters by the B-spline method, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of vector font synthesis, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of vector font data of the embodiment, FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrams showing a configuration example of an address table of the embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a pattern development process in the document processing apparatus of the embodiment. In the figure, 10 ... address part, 11,12 ... font storage part, 1
3 common line deletion unit, 14 synthesis unit, 15 dot pattern conversion unit, 53 attribute flag, 62, 63 common line segment, 6
6 to 69: Sample point, 100: Control unit, 101: CPU, 10
2 ... ROM, 103 ... RAM, 104,105 ... Address table, 106,107 ... Vector font, 110 ... CRT, 111 ...
Video memory, 112 ... keyboard, 113 ... mouse, 11
4… Printer, 115… Interface, 116…
Image memory, 117 BMU, 118 System bus, 2
02 …… Size judging unit, 203,210 …… Rowing judging unit, 204,2
11 ... Address table, 207 ... Conversion unit, 214 ... Dot conversion unit, 301 ... Deformed circuit, 302 ... Contour drawing unit, 303
...... This is the painted part.

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Akishi Shirasaka 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Masaki 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-61-199173 (JP, A) JP-A-61-169966 (JP, A) JP-A-60-11888 (JP, A) JP-A-55-133087 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage means for storing a plurality of vector font data corresponding to one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines, and when generation of one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines is instructed, Reading means for reading a plurality of vector font data stored in the corresponding storage means; synthesizing means for synthesizing the plurality of vector font data read by the reading means; vector font synthesized by the synthesizing means Generating means for generating one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines based on data, wherein the synthesizing means comprises a plurality of vector phones read by the reading means and an outline of the character / symbol pattern represented by data Of vector data corresponding to the contour to be superimposed, A character processing device characterized by combining vector font data. 2. The character processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising output means for outputting a character / symbol pattern generated by said generating means. 3. A character processing method in a character processing device having a font memory storing a plurality of vector font data corresponding to one character symbol pattern over a plurality of lines, wherein one character symbol pattern over a plurality of lines is generated. When instructed, a plurality of vector font data stored in the font memory corresponding to the one character symbol is read, and a superimposition of the outline of the character symbol pattern represented by the read plurality of vector font data is performed. A character processing method comprising: erasing vector data corresponding to a contour to be combined; synthesizing the plurality of vector font data; and generating one character / symbol pattern over a plurality of lines based on the synthesized vector font data. .