JP2737983B2 - Printing device and display device for displaying status of printing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing device and a display device for displaying the status of the printing device, and more particularly, to a protocol of a data processing device for transmitting data to be printed. The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a printer control device capable of converting a protocol of the printing unit itself (native), and a display device for displaying a state of the printing apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

In a computer system, a printer, which is an output device, and a data processing device, which sends data to be printed, transmit and receive the data and control data between the printer and the printer. Must be identical. In a printer designed for a specific data processing device, the same protocol specifications as those of the data processing device may be defined.

On the other hand, a general-purpose printer that is to be connected to a plurality of types of data processing devices having different protocols is specified as a protocol specific to the printer. It has a conversion device.

As the protocol conversion device, a protocol conversion program (emulation software) for converting control information output from the data processing device into printer-side control information corresponding to the requested function is operated by the printer-side control processor, In general, control information output from a data processing device is converted into control information possessed by a printer.

In this case, the printer performs a process of decoding and converting the converted control information into internal parameters for controlling the operation of the printer.

In a system including a plurality of types of emulation software, once any one of the emulation software is started, it is possible to switch to another emulation software only by resetting it by hardware.

Therefore, there is no inconvenience when the specification is continuously performed in a state where the printer is connected to a specific data processing apparatus. However, the printer is connected to a plurality of data processing apparatuses having different protocol specifications, and the data processing apparatus is switched and used as needed. There is a disadvantage that the method cannot be applied to the above-mentioned purpose.

In order to solve such a problem, the inventors of the present application have developed a printer control device that can be used for the above-mentioned application as a configuration that enables switching of emulation software to be executed by a control signal from the data processing device side. Japanese Patent Application No. 62
-87569.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

When the emulation software can be switched from the data processing device side in this way, when the data processing device and the printer are separated from each other, it is unknown which emulation software is activated on the printer side. There is a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and a printing apparatus which displays information specifying a selected emulation software on a display unit of a printer so that the emulation software selected in the printer can be understood. And a display device for displaying the state of the printing device.

[Means for solving the problem]

The printing apparatus according to the present invention is provided for each protocol in order to analyze a plurality of received data having different protocols in a printing apparatus which analyzes received data provided from an external data processing apparatus and executes printing. A memory for storing the plurality of programs, a selection unit for selecting one of the programs stored in the memory, and analyzing the received data by the selected program, and information for identifying the program selected by the selection unit. Display means for displaying.

Further, the display device according to the present invention stores a plurality of programs prepared for each protocol in a memory in order to analyze a plurality of data having different protocols, and stores the programs in the memory in accordance with data provided from the data processing device. A display device for selecting one of a plurality of stored programs, analyzing the data by the selected program, and displaying a state of a printing apparatus that executes printing, and displaying the program selected for the analysis. The information to be specified is displayed.

[Action]

In the printing device and the display device for displaying the status of the printing device according to the present invention, a plurality of programs prepared for each protocol are stored in the memory in order to analyze a plurality of received data having different protocols. Then, when one of the programs stored in the memory is selected and the received data is analyzed, information for specifying the selected program is displayed on the display means.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments.

[Schematic configuration]

First, a schematic configuration of a printing apparatus according to the present invention and a display device for displaying a state of the printing apparatus will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a printing apparatus 10 according to the present invention. Data from the general-purpose data processing device 1 is stored in the file buffer 2 and then output to the printing device 10 in order to improve the throughput of the data processing device 1. Printing equipment
Reference numeral 10 denotes a bitmap type data processing device 3, that is, a printer control device, and a printer including an auxiliary device such as a print engine 4, which includes an electrophotographic process and a laser, an external paper feeding unit, and a sorter 6.

 FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the printing apparatus of the present invention.

An electrophotographic process and a BMU 3 are built in the housing of the print engine 4, and an external paper feed unit 5 as an accessory and a sorter 6 are connected. The print engine 4 has a display unit for displaying the state of the system and a display panel on which keys for performing simple operations are arranged.
34 is installed.

FIG. 3 shows details of the display panel. 90
1 to 906 are input keys, and 910 to 912 are display elements.
A key 901 is a pause key for temporarily stopping a printing operation, a reference key 902 is a test key for starting a test printing (printing), and a test key 902 is a cancel key for stopping printing by pressing the shift key 903 at the same time. Becomes Reference numeral 910 denotes an LCD panel for displaying a message. The mode of the display content is switched by an up key 905 and a down key 906, and is determined by a select key 904. 91
1 is an LED that lights up when a message is output, and 912 is an LED that lights up when an error occurs.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a control system of the printing apparatus 10. The bitmap type data processing device 3 includes a bitmap memory BM-RAM 32, a bitmap writing unit 31 (see FIG. 11) for drawing on the BM-RAM 32, and a font unit 33.
And a bitmap control unit 30 for performing these controls. The connection with the print engine 4 is made by a bus B3 for control data (number of sheets, accessories, etc.) and a bus B4 for image data.

The print engine 4 is composed mainly of three controllers. First, the interface control unit (IFC) 40 processes the control data from the bitmap control unit 30,
Further, the timing of the entire print engine 4 is controlled through the internal bus B5.

The electrophotographic control unit 41 controls the electrophotographic process unit 45 according to data sent from the interface control unit 40 via the internal bus B5.

The print head control unit 42 controls the light emission of the semiconductor laser of the print head unit 43 and the rotation of the polygon motor in accordance with information such as image data sent from the bit map writing unit 31 via the internal bus B4. Further, the external sheet feeding unit 5 and the sorter 6 are also controlled by the interface control unit 40 through the internal bus B5.

[Configuration of control unit]

FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the bitmap control unit 30. The overall configuration includes an interface for data input / output (301, 309, 310, 311, 312), a CPU 303 serving as the center of the control unit, its system ROM, and a system work RAM (305,
307), Timer 30 that periodically interrupts CPU 303
2, and buffer memory for data storage (304, 306, 30
8).

Next, the operation of each unit will be described. First, data fetched from the data processing device interface 301 through the bus B2 is stored in the R-buffer 304. In the system ROM 305, as shown in FIG. 6, a host, that is, a host process 65 for temporarily editing data sent from the data processing device and writing the data as a packet to the packet buffer 308, and analyzing the packet. An independent program called a packet process 64 for transmitting data from the bitmap writing unit interface 310 to the bitmap writing unit 31 or to the font unit via the font interface 309 and further to the interface control unit 40 via the print engine interface 311 is stored. ing. The scheduler 62, which is also written in the system ROM 305, switches each process according to the state by the timer interrupt 61 from the timer 302.

In the system work RAM 307, there is an area called a current process status (CPS) block as shown in FIG.
Is stored in the CPS, so that the process can operate independently. The CPS block consists of a packet process 64, a host process 65, and a user process 66.
There is a save area for each (described later) and a save area shared by these processes.

The system ROM 305 stores an initialization start process 63 for starting the printer, and is started directly by the host process 65.

FIG. 7B shows the memory configuration of the system ROM 305 and the system work RAM 307. In the download segment of the system work RAM 307, an area 66 'for the user process 66 is provided. In this area 66 ', another process (user process 66) is loaded from the area indicated by the dip switch of the system ROM 305. Then, the scheduler 62 can perform time-division processing in the same manner as other processes. This user process 66
Is the protocol (host protocol) specific to this printer
This is a program that converts data sent in a protocol different from the above into a host protocol. The data flow in this case is, for example, as shown in FIG.
-Write to the buffer 304, take out the received data (data of a protocol other than the host protocol) stored in the R-buffer 304 by the user process 66, convert it to data of the host protocol, and store it in the system RAM 307
Storing in the buffer 306; The host process 65 for temporarily editing data is UR-
It is sufficient to take out the buffer 306 and handle it as host protocol data. When the user process is not activated, that is, when it is host protocol data, it is sufficient to simply take out the data in the R-buffer 304 and change it to another. There is no need for

As shown in FIG. 7 (b), a plurality of user processes 66 are stored in the system ROM 305 for each protocol which can be supported by the printer control device, that is, the data processing device 3, and the user process 66 provided by the data processing device 1 A user process designated by the process designation code may be loaded into a download area (user process area) 66 'in the system work RAM 307. By adopting such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 9, even a data file written in a different protocol format can be sent continuously by sending a user process designation code before transfer.

Further, since it is not necessary to change other processes for controlling the printer operation, the user process 66 is simple in that it only performs data conversion, and development is easy.

Further, necessary information is sent to the display panel interface 312 and is given to the display panel 34 through the bus B8. The contents displayed on the display panel 34 indicate the paper size, the state of the print mode, and the target name of the emulation program (software) according to the gist of the present invention. However, this display is when the emulation program (user process) is activated.

FIG. 10 shows an example of the display. When the emulation program is switched by a command from the data processing device 1, the LED 911 indicating the message display is turned on for a few seconds as shown in (a), and the target emulation program is displayed on the LCD panel 910. Is displayed. When switching to the normal mode (native mode), a display as shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a detailed block diagram of the bitmap writing unit 31. The functions of the bitmap writing section are roughly divided into BM-RAM
It is divided into a function of drawing on the 32 and a function of outputting data of the BM-RAM 32 to the print engine 4 at the time of printing.

The drawing function on the BM-RAM 32 can be further divided into two functions.
It consists of line and circle drawing performed by the graphic image writing unit 316 and font drawing performed by the font image writing unit 311. Although both writing units 316 and 311 are logic units that operate on the intermediate code sent from the bitmap control unit 30 through the bitmap control unit interface 317, most of the processing of the graphic image writing unit 316 Analyze the parameters
In contrast to drawing in the BM-RAM 32, most processing of the font image writing unit 311 draws a font image read from the font unit 33 through the font unit interface 314 in the BM-RAM 32 according to data in the intermediate code. I do.

On the other hand, the function of data output at the time of printing is performed by the print head control unit interface 315. That is, the interface 317
When the print start code transmitted via the bus B4 is received from the print head control unit 42 of the print engine 4, the BM-RA
The data of M32 is output to the print head controller.

〔motion〕

Next, the operation of the present system will be described with reference to a flowchart. The program of this system is divided into the following three.

The host process analyzes data in the reception buffer and generates packet data for controlling the drawing unit and the print engine unit.

Packet process The rendering of the BM-RAM and the control of the engine are actually performed by the packet data generated by the host process.

User process Converts the input of a protocol with a different form into a protocol that can be analyzed by the host process and passes it to the host process. For example, it is supplied by downloading from a built-in ROM. Do not execute unless protocol conversion is required.

These processes are independent programs, and operate in parallel by time-division processing with priority. The priority is the order of the packet process, the host process, and the user process. In addition, there are a scheduler that manages these processes by a timer interrupt, and a start process started at the time of start.

 Next, each process will be described.

[Start process]

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a start process. This process is started only once at the start.
First, when the power is turned on (step # 1), internal initialization is performed (step # 2), and the R-buffer, UR-buffer, and packet buffer (FIFO) are cleared (steps # 3, # 4, # 4). # 5). Next, as a preparatory operation for activating the host process, a bit indicating the host process of the request vector is set (step # 6).
The bit indicating the current vector output process (user process) is set (step # 7), and the number indicating the user process is entered in CRTPRS (step # 8). The request vector is used by a process whose execution has been interrupted to notify the scheduler of abandonment of execution and a request to start another process when the scheduler is started by a timer interrupt. Is set or reset. The current vector sets a bit corresponding to the process being executed. When the scheduler is started, the bit of the process whose execution has been interrupted is set. Further, CRTPRS contains the number of the process indicated by the current vector, and the number of the process increases as the priority is higher. Using the request vector, current vector, and CRTPRS, the scheduler determines the execution destination of the next process (the details will be described in the next section, "Scheduler").

Thereafter, the CPS block is initialized (step # 9). Specifically, in each CPS, the start address value of each process program is put in the area for storing the data of the execution address pointer of the CPU, and the predetermined address value is put in the area for storing the stack pointer. The initial values of other pointers are also inserted as needed.

When these initial settings are completed, an interrupt is permitted (step # 10), and a loop for waiting for a timer interrupt (step # 11) is entered.

[Scheduler]

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a scheduler started by a timer interrupt. First, when an interrupt by the timer is entered (step # 30), the values of the registers of the CPU are saved to a save area in the CPS block (step # 31). Next, among the bits set in the request vector, the process number with the highest priority is entered in REPPRS (step # 32). Here, CRTPRS contains the process number immediately before performing the interrupt processing.
By comparing RS, it is determined whether there is a request to start a process with a higher priority (step # 33). If there is no request to start the upper process (NO in step # 33), the process being processed (CRTPRS
) Resets the bit of the request vector and checks whether the previous execution has been abandoned (step # 42), and has not abandoned (YES in step # 42).
In this case, the data of each register in the save area of the CPS block is set in the CPU (step # 39) and the process returns. In this case, the process interrupted by the timer interrupt is executed as it is. If abandoned (NO in step # 42)
In this case, the process number lower than the process indicated by CRTPRS and the highest process number is put in REQPRS (step # 4).
1), there was a request to start the upper process (step # 33)
The same processing as in the case of YES) is performed. Here, the value of the save area is transferred to the CPS of the process that suspends the execution indicated by CRTPRS (step # 35), and the CPS of the process indicated by REPPRS is transferred.
Is transferred to the save area (step # 36). Further, the value of REQPRS is entered in CRTPRS (step # 37), and REQPRS
The current vector is set in the process indicated by RS (step # 38). With these processes, the retreat area is
Since it contains the value of the register of the program indicated by RS,
The return destination is the process indicated by REQPRS.

[Host process]

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the host process. The first start of the host process is performed by the start process requesting the scheduler to start the host process using the request vector as described above, and the scheduler started by the timer interrupt is switched to the host process. At this time,
The start address of the host process is set in the program counter of the CPU (303).

Describing the processing flow, first, a flag used for the host process is initialized (step # 51). Specifically, a userf flag indicating whether the user process is executed is set to 0, and LPWRITE indicating that the temporary image is being edited in the reception data processing routine is set to 0.

Further, a HOSTEND flag indicating that the host process is in a state in which execution cannot be performed is set to 0, and a USERWAIT that is a common flag with the user process and indicates that the switching of the user process is being performed is also set to 0. .
DISPMO which is a pointer for displaying the display panel 34
DE and SETC are set to 0, and MODEN is set to the number of select modes. Then, the font attribute is read from the font section 33 as preparation for preparing the intermediate code (step # 52). DIP switch (DIPS) in system ROM 305
It is checked whether or not there is a user process specified in advance by W) (steps # 53 and # 54), and if so, the specified user process is loaded into a predetermined area of the system RAM 307 (step # 55). Indicates the execution of the user process waiting for the end of loading (step # 56)
The USERF flag is set to 1 (step # 57), and the user process bit of the request vector is set (step # 58). This is to ensure that the lowest-order process always sets the request vector bit and does not abandon its own execution. afterwards,
The designated user process is set in the emulation vector (step # 59). After performing these initialization operations (steps # 51 to # 59), the process enters the main loop (steps # 60 to # 66). Dip switch DI
No user process specified in PSW (NO in step # 53)
If there is no user process specified by the DIP switch DIPSW in the ROM (NO in step # 54), step #
Infiltrate 60.

In the main loop, the empty FIFO area is exhausted, or
UR-buffer when 1 (YES in step # 61), USERF =
If it is 0 (NO in step # 61), the received data processing (step # 64) is performed except when the R-buffer becomes empty (NO in step # 63). Also, no data processing is performed (NO in step # 60, step # 62, step # 63)
At this time, JOBOUT processing 1 is executed (step # 69). Here, if the UR-buffer is empty (NO in step # 62) and the user process is being switched (YES in step # 67).
A HOSTEND flag indicating that the process switching process has been completed is set (step # 68), and then JOBOUT process 1 is executed. FIG. 15 shows the contents of the JOBOUT process 1, which is a process for updating the request vector in order for the host process to request the scheduler to switch to a higher-level process (in the embodiment, a packet program).
Specifically, the packet process bit of the request vector is set (step # 72), the user process is activated (YES in step # 73), HOSTEND, and the USERWAIT flag is not set (NO in step # 77, When # 80 is YES), the host process bit in the request vector is reset and its own execution is abandoned. If there is no user process (NO in step # 78), the host process becomes the lowest-order process, so that the host process bit of the request vector is kept set.

In the processing accompanying the switching of the user process, if the host process can continue processing, that is, if data remains in the UR-buffer 306 (YES in step # 73), the received data processing is continued. At this time, if there is no free space in the FIFO (NO in # 60), "JOBOUT processing 1" is executed. If the user process is being switched (NO in # 80), the host process bit of the request vector is executed. Do not execute the set processing of. If the data in the UR-buffer 306 is empty, the HOSTEND flag is set in step # 68, so the result in step # 77 is YES, and the USERWAIT flag and the HOSTEND flag are set to 0 (steps # 78 and # 79). By this processing, YES is determined in step # 80, and the host process bit of the request vector is reset (step # 74). Thus, the user process switching process is completed, and the process can proceed to the next user process. During these processes, timer interruption is prohibited (steps # 71 and # 75) to prevent malfunction.

As is clear from these flows, when the user process is not switched (USERWAIT = 0), a specific condition (FIFO
No empty area, R-buffer or UR-buffer is empty. Until the JOBOUT processing 1 is executed by the reception data processing subroutine (set in the step # 64) and the request flag is updated, even if the scheduler is started by the timer interrupt, the processing returns to the host process again. Therefore, the reception data processing is repeatedly performed.

When the user process is switched, the UR-buffer 306 is used.
Becomes empty and the bit of the emulation host process is not reset until the HOSTEND flag is set, so that only the host process 65 and the packet process 64 are activated and wait until the remaining data is processed. After that, when the switching process is completed, the host process bit of the request vector is reset.
The user process 66, which has been switched without any operation after having once shifted to the packet process 64, is started.

When these processes are completed, it is checked whether or not the test key 902 on the display panel 34 has been pressed (step # 65). If the test key 902 has been pressed, a test print process (step # 66) is performed. If not, the process returns to the start of the main loop (step # 60).

[Display panel display]

FIGS. 16 (a) and 16 (b) show the display processing of the display panel 34 (see FIG. 16).
15 is a flowchart of step # 66a) in FIG. The contents displayed on the display unit are divided into the following five.

・ Error message ・ Emulation name ・ Display of “BUSY” during operation ・ Font name ・ Paper size Any other display is allowed.

Here, the error message and the emulation name are displayed as needed, but the other three are up key 90
Displayed when the mode is selected with 5, down key 906 and select key 904. First, the engine status is read (step # 551), and if any abnormality has occurred (YES in step # 552), a message corresponding to the error content is output to the display panel interface 312 (step # 553) and the process returns. If there is no abnormality, the EMUM is compared with the emulation vector, and if not, the emulation name indicated by the emulation vector is output to the display panel interface 312 (step # 560). After that, the contents of the emulation vector are stored in the EMUM (step # 570) to prepare for the next comparison check.

An up key 905 and a down key 906 perform selection of display contents and switching of function selection. First, the display contents are pointer DI
Keep it in SPMODE and press +1 with the UP key (step # 57
3) The value is decremented by -1 (step # 581). Since the pointer operates in a ring shape, when DISPMODE exceeds the number of display modes MODEN, the pointer is set to 1 (steps # 574 and # 5).
75), when DISPMODE is smaller than 1, set to MODEN (steps # 582, # 583).

When the SELECT key 904 is pressed, the mode shifts from the display selection mode to the function mode.
The display mode is ignored if the display mode is normal display mode (DISPMODE = 1) or during the printing operation (NO at 590) or during the printing operation (NO at step # 591). If you have already entered the function mode (SELO
N = 1) returns the SELON flag to 0 (step # 595).
In the display selection mode, the SELON flag is set to 1 and the function mode is entered (step # 593). Thereafter, the maximum number of display contents indicated by the DISPMODE pointer is set in SETMAX (step # 594).

When the up key 905 is input and the SELON flag is 1
, Ie, in the function mode (NO in # 572), the pointer SETC is incremented by 1 (# 576), and the pointer SETC is set to the maximum value S of the pointer.
When ETMAX is exceeded (YES in # 577), SETC is set to 1.

At the time of input of the down key 906, if the SELON flag is 1 (NO in # 580), SETC is decremented by 1 (# 584), and if SETC is smaller than 1, the maximum value SETMAX is set in SETC ( # 585,
# 586).

In the embodiment, the display contents are determined for the DISPMODE pointer as follows.

DISPMODE = 1: "BU" indicating printer operation in normal display mode
SY "and the set print count are displayed.

DISPMODE = 2: Displays the currently selected font name. Specify the font with the SELECT key.

DISPMODE = 3: Displays the currently selected paper size. Specify the paper size with the SELECT key.

When DISPMODE = 1 (YES in step # 596), "BUSY" is displayed when drawing or printing operation is being performed on the bit map (step # 600), and "RE" otherwise.
ADY "is displayed. Thereafter, the number of prints is displayed (step # 601).

When DISPMODE = 2 (YES in step # 602), the currently selected font name is sent to the display interface in the display selection mode (SELON = 0), and corresponds to the SETC pointer in the function mode (SELON = 1). The font name to be transmitted is sent to the display interface (step # 605), and a code designating this font is output to the FIFO (step # 606).

When DISPMODE = 3 (YES in step # 607), SELO
If N = 0 (YES in step # 608), the currently specified paper size is sent to the display interface (step # 609). If SELON = 1, the paper size name indicated by the SETC pointer is sent to the display interface ( Step # 61
0), and sends a code specifying the paper size to the FIFO (step # 611).

[Test print]

The test print is a function used to check the font in use and the image state of the print engine 4, and is activated by a test key 902 on the display panel. The display panel 34 is controlled by the interface control unit 40, and issues a test print request to the bitmap control unit 30. The actual activation is performed by detecting this request in step # 65.

FIG. 17 shows the test print processing (step # 6 in FIG. 14).
6) is a flowchart showing the details of step 6). As shown in this flowchart, the test print is not executed in the BM-RAM 32 and the packet buffer 308 and no drawing or temporary editing is performed (steps # 81 and # 81). YE at 82
S) is the case. If such conditions are satisfied and test printing is possible, the currently executing mode is first saved (step # 83).

Next, a test print mode is set (step #
84). The setting items include the number of copies, the bin used by the sorter 6, and the like.

Next, test patterns (available font patterns,
(Including the setting mode at that time) packet buffer 30
8 (Step # 85). The test pattern has a message print area that can be registered by the user.
When the user test pattern is registered (USER TEST = 1 in step # 86), the data and print pattern specified by the protocol are written from the user test pattern registration area when the user process is started (step # 87). ).

Then page eject in normal mode (PAGEEJECT)
The function is output to the packet buffer 308 (step # 88), and the mode is returned to the original mode (step # 89).

[Received data processing]

The processing flow of the received data is shown in FIGS. 18 (a) and (b).

First, it is necessary to extract data from the reception buffer in order to process the received data. The received data is fetched from the data processing interface 301 by a data reception interrupt as shown in FIG.
Is accumulated in

If there is a user process 66, the R-buffer 30
UR-buffer 306 after protocol conversion of data of 4
When USEF is 1 (YE in step # 101)
S) is 0 from the UR-buffer 306 (step # 101)
NO) takes data from the R-buffer 304 (step # 102, step # 107).

 Here, the received data is classified into the following five.

-IFC-related codes (print engine-related codes)
(Step # 103 to Step # 105) ・ JOB control code (JOBSTART, PAGEEJECT) (Step # 1
08 to step # 112) • Format control code (step # 113 to step # 114) • Print data (character code, graphic code) (step # 132, step # 137) • User process control code For print data (step #) 132) YES) is LPWRIT
After the E flag is set to 1, it is converted into an intermediate code of the corresponding format and output to the FIFO.

For character codes, font / image writing unit 311
And the address of the font pattern (step # 133) and the write address to the BM-RAM corresponding to the print position on the image area (step # 13)
4) and a write mode (step # 135). In the case of a graphic code, it is output in the same format as the command to the graphic image writing unit 316 (step # 137). At this time, in case of character code,
The next character printing position is updated (step # 138).

The IFC-related code (step # 103) is output to the interface control unit 40, but is output to the FIFO as an intermediate code of a function type different from the print data in order to synchronize with the print data. (Step # 104). Then, "JOBOUT processing 1" is executed (step # 105). There are two JOB control codes, a PAGE EJECT code (step # 110) used for separating pages, and a JOBSTART (YES in step # 108) used for separating pages. Both of them output to the FIFO similarly to the IFC-related code (step # 109, step # 152). PAGE EJEC
In the case of T code After PAGE EJECT processing (step # 111),
“JOBOUT processing 1” is executed (step # 112), and the process returns. Format control code (Step # 113, Step # 114)
Controls the print format. If the code specifies the number of copies of the same image (YES in step # 115), a function corresponding to the FIFO is output to synchronize with the print data (step # 116).

[Format control and PAGE EJECT processing]

FIG. 20 shows a processing sequence of the format control code. In the case of a line feed code (YES in step # 161), the next print position is moved to the left end (step # 162), and in the case of a line feed code, the next print position is moved down one line (step # 165). When a random designation is made (step # 166)
YES), the offset value is added, and then the next print position is updated (step # 167).

FIG. 21 shows the flow of the PAGE EJECT process. The PAGE EJECT process is a virtual process for temporarily editing the intermediate code on the FIFO, and is different from the process of actually discharging the paper in the intermediate code process (FIG. 22). PAGE EJECT processing first PAGEs to packet buffer 308
An intermediate code indicating EJECT is output (step # 152).
Here, the actual discharge operation is performed when the packet process receives this intermediate code. Thereafter, the next print position is returned to the beginning in preparation for editing the next page (step #
153). A series of these operations is LPW indicating temporary image editing
The determination is made based on the RITE flag (step # 151, step # 154), and output of an empty page is prevented.

Switching of the user process is performed by a user process designation code. This code needs to be a code having transparency, that is, a code that can be distinguished from a code of any protocol system (for example, a code in which ESCAPE CODE = 27 is repeated twice). Further, the host process and a plurality of user processes are switched by the parameters of this code, and the values are set in EMUNOW (step # 118). The user process started at this time is set as a value assigned to the emulation vector.

FIG. 9 described above shows an example of data actually sent from the host side. The emulation switching command is ESC + ESC + U, which is an emulation assignment code. When the printer receives the switching command, the subsequent data and command are converted by the user process corresponding to the target protocol, so that the printer can process even if data is continuously transmitted.

In the case of a user process specification code (step # 117
YES), and after setting the designated user process number of the parameter in EMUNOW on the system RAM 307 (step # 11)
8) Check whether the user process is running (step # 119), and if the USEF flag is 0 (YES in step # 119), or if USEF is 1, the EMUNOW and emulation vector are different (step # 119). (YES at # 120)
In some cases, the user process indicated by EMUNOW is loaded (step # 121), and after waiting for the end of the loading (step # 122), USEF is set to 1 (step # 123).

After these processes are completed or in steps # 119 and # 12
If 0 and NO, the user process is initialized, and finally the user process bit of the request vector is set (step # 126). In the case of the user process release code, the USERF flag is set to 0 (step # 128). Thereafter, the user process bit of the request vector is reset (step # 129).

The information to be written in the user process print area of the test print is specified by a user process test print data registration command. With this command, information to be printed can be set according to the value of the parameter.
When this command is accepted (Y in step # 139)
ES) analyzes the parameters (step # 140)
The necessary information for the user process specified by the parameter is written in the form of a corresponding code to the test pattern user process area of the user process indicated by EMUNOW on the system ROM 307 (step # 141).

[Packet process]

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the processing of the packet process.

First, when the power is turned on (step # 200), the BM-RAM
Is cleared (step # 202), and the control flag is initialized (step # 203). In particular,
Clear JOBACT indicating the print status, clear BMWRITE indicating the drawing status to BM-RAM, set COPY indicating the same number of copies to 1, and set CCOUNT to calculate the same number of copies to 1. I do.

Thereafter, the process enters the main loop. The process performed by the main loop is as follows: analysis of the intermediate code and drawing to the BM-RAM (step # 212)
To step # 215) and print sequence control (step # 205 to step # 211). The data flow is as follows.
First, when JOBACT, which is a discharge condition flag, is 1, a print sequence (step # 208, step # 211) is entered. If JOBACT is not 1, it is checked from the FIFO that there is an intermediate code (step # 213), and intermediate code processing is performed.

When entering the print sequence here (Step # 20)
5) and when there is no more packet data in the FIFO (step # 215), the second
The JOBOUT process 2 in FIG. 9 is executed (step # 230). At this time, since the request flag is set to the lowest process, the scheduler shifts the execution to the lowest process when the lowest packet process drops the request flag (# 231, FIG. 29). As described above, the packet process has the highest priority, so that the program is in a waiting state (in the case of step # 205), but the process is shifted to the lower process only when execution becomes impossible (in the case of step # 215).

[Intermediate code processing and print sequence control]

Next, the processing flow of the intermediate code stored in the FIFO is
This is shown in FIGS. 22 (a) and (b).

Here, sequence control such as drawing on the BM-RAM according to the intermediate code and outputting a command to the print engine unit is mainly performed.

First, in the case of print data (YES in step # 303),
Intermediate code to font / image writing unit (step #
304) In the case of a graphic (NO in step # 310), output to the graphic / image writing unit (step # 311)
I do.

If the first data is to be written (BM-WRITE flag = 0) (YES in step # 305), the BM-WRITE flag is set to 1
(Step # 306), and outputs a paper advance command PFCMD to the interface control unit 40 to precede the preparation of paper supply and the like to the print engine 4 (Step # 308). As a result, when the bitmap data processing device 3 completes the preparation for printing, the photoconductor can be immediately exposed to the laser, and the throughput is improved corresponding to the paper feeding time.

The IFC-related code and the JOBSTART code are output to IFC (Step # 312 to Step # 313).

If the number of copies is set (step # 319), the number of copies COPY is updated (step # 320). Output from the FIFO 305 to the bitmap writing unit 31 is performed sequentially as long as there is intermediate code data. However, when the PAGE EJECT code is detected (YES in step # 315), the signal conversion for one page has been completed, and the printing operation is completed. to go into. First, the number of copies set in the CCOUNT flag for counting the number of copies COPY is set, and print start processing is started (step # 317) (FIG. 24). In the print start processing, a JOBACT flag indicating that the print processing has been started is set (step # 401), the print head control unit interface is set in a printable state (step # 402), and a print command PRNCMD is output to the interface control unit 40. (Step # 403).

This allows the printhead controller interface
At 315, the data of the BM-RAM is output via the bus B4 in synchronization with the pulse sent from the control circuit of the print head controller 42.

When the printing is completed, since the JOBACT flag is still set, steps # 204 to # 205 in FIG. 23 are performed.
Then, in step # 206, the flow waits for an exposure end command EXPEND interrupt from the interface control unit 40. EX
As shown in Fig. 25, the interrupt processing for PEND reception
Set a flag and reset the packet process bit in the request vector. When EXPEND is detected, the EPEND flag is set to 1 and the process exits the loop to perform copy control of the same image (steps # 208 to # 211).

First, the copy number counter CCOUNT is decremented (step # 208), and it is checked whether a predetermined number of copies have been completed (step # 209). When the printing is completed, the print END process is started (FIG. 26). Here, BM for drawing the next image
-Clear RAM, step # 241, reset JOBACT flag to release print state (step # 242), BM
-Clear BMWRITE indicating the drawing state to RAM (step # 243). If copying has not been completed, printing is started again with the same image (step # 211).

[User process]

FIG. 27 shows a processing example of a user process.
The user process itself has several programs depending on the corresponding protocol, but the basic form is as described above. In particular, (Steps # 490, # 491, # 501
Steps # 503, # 507, and # 510) must be standardized in each user process, or it will not be possible to cope with other processes.

First, at the time of startup, the user process is initialized (# 470), and the registered data of the user test pattern is sent to the host process. Next, it is checked that there is data in the R-buffer (step # 501), and thereafter, the UR-buffer is checked for free space (step # 502). If there is no free space in the UR-buffer (NO in step # 502), a request to start the host process is made by a request vector (step # 510) to make room in the UR-buffer.

If there is free space in the UR-buffer (Y in step # 502)
ES), fetch data from R-buffer (step #)
503), protocol conversion processing (steps # 504 to # 506, #
508, # 509).

For user process specification code (Y in step # 511)
ES) sends the page eject code to eject the paper if there is data being drawn (step # 512), and sends the user process designation code to the UR-buffer 306 as it is (step # 513). Thereafter, the bit of the request vector of the upper process is set (step # 513), and the emulation vector is set to the value of the process specified by the parameter of the user process specification code (step # 515). USERWAIT is set to process the remaining data of the previous user process (step # 51)
6). Then, the scheduler waits for an interrupt (step # 517).

USERWAIT is a common flag with the host process 61. When this flag is set, the host process 65
Until the data in the buffer 306 has been processed, the designated user process is not executed to prevent malfunction.

FIG. 28 shows an example of the switching timing of these processes. As described above, the scheduler is started by the periodic timer interruption, but the process is switched when the execution abandon condition of each process is satisfied.

〔effect〕

In the printing device and the display device for displaying the status of the printing device according to the present invention, a plurality of programs prepared for each protocol are stored in the memory in order to analyze a plurality of received data having different protocols. Then, when one of the programs stored in the memory is selected and the received data is analyzed, information for specifying the selected program is displayed on the display means. Therefore, the operator can operate with ease.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural view of the device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the device of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a layout diagram showing a display panel, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a bitmap control unit of the device of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of software of the device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a concept showing a configuration of a system work RAM. FIG. 8, FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a flow of received data, FIG. 9 is a format diagram showing an example of data transmitted from the data processing device, FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a display example of a display panel, FIG. Is a detailed block diagram of a bitmap writing unit, FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a start process, FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a scheduler started by a timer interrupt, and FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of a host process. G, Fig. 15 shows JOBOUT processing 1
FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a display process of the display panel, FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a test print processing procedure, FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a received data processing procedure, and FIG. FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a data interrupt processing, FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a format control code processing procedure, and FIG. 21 is a PAGEEJ
A flowchart showing the procedure of the ECT apparatus, FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the intermediate code processing, FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing the processing of the packet process, FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing the print start processing, and FIG. 25 is an EXPEND reception interrupt processing Flowchart showing, Fig. 26 is print END
FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a user process, FIG. 28 is a time chart showing an example of process switching timing, and FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing JOBOUT processing 2. 34 ... Display panel, 61 ... Timer interrupt 62 ... Scheduler, 63 ... Start process 64 ... Packet process, 65 ... Host process 66 ... User process

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A printing apparatus for analyzing received data supplied from an external data processing apparatus and executing printing, in order to analyze a plurality of received data having different protocols, a plurality of data prepared for each protocol. Selecting a memory for storing the program, and one of the programs stored in the memory,
A printing apparatus comprising: a selection unit that analyzes received data according to a selected program; and a display unit that displays information that specifies the program selected by the selection unit. In order to analyze a plurality of data having different protocols, a plurality of programs prepared for each protocol are stored in a memory, and a plurality of programs stored in the memory are stored in accordance with data provided from a data processing device. Is a display device that displays the status of a printing apparatus that executes data printing by analyzing data according to the selected program, and that specifies information that specifies the program selected for the analysis. A display device characterized by being displayed.