JP2942107B2 - Character code converter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character code converter for converting an input character code and typeface code into an output character code and typeface code, respectively.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a computer uses a computer to output characters of various fonts in a distinguished manner, the character shape of each character is represented by a character code and a font code. Here, the “character shape” refers to the shape of a character actually output. For example, a character having the same character type “A” has a different character shape depending on the typeface. "Font" is a character concept that is the basis of a glyph,
It refers to the way of combining stippling as an element to identify individual characters. That is, the font is abstract and is specifically realized as a character. For example, the Mina font "A" and the Gothic font "A" have the same font, but different fonts.

[0003] In a character input device, a document (character) created in a set typeface may be replaced with another typeface and output. For example, when a part of a document is modified, a character string to be emphasized or a headline character string is changed from Mincho to Gothic. Also, in recent years, when a character input device is different from a character output device, and the character output device does not have a typeface set by the character input device, a technique of outputting a character using an alternative typeface in the character output device. Has been proposed. Alphanumeric, Hiragana, Katakana, J
Regarding the character codes such as the first and second level kanji of IS, the same character code is assigned to the same character in any typeface. Therefore, for these common characters, no major problem occurs even if the typeface is replaced in the character output device.

[0004]

However, depending on the typeface, the typeface indicated by the same character code may be different. In particular, in the range of character codes other than the common characters described above, different fonts are often assigned depending on the font.

In such a case, conventionally, a portion of a character that cannot be output (hereinafter, referred to as an "undefined character") is blanked or a special pattern indicating an undefined character is output. . However, in this case, there is a problem that the character input by the character input device cannot be understood.

In the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-42222, a substitute character is output instead of an undefined character.
For example, in the embodiment of the above publication, hiragana “strawberry” is printed in place of the undefined character “strawberry”. However, when the method of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-42322 is applied in the printing plate making process, a character string typeset using the character “strawberry” changes, so that it is necessary to correct the typesetting again. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. Even when the character output device does not have the typeface of the input character, the character output device can output the typeface. The purpose is to convert to the appropriate output character code and output typeface code.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a character code converter according to the present invention comprises:
First storage means for storing a plurality of registered typeface codes, and, for an unregistered typeface code not included in the plurality of registered typeface codes, replacing one registered typeface code from the plurality of registered typeface codes with an alternative typeface code Second storage means for storing a font alternative priority table indicating the priority of the registered font codes when selecting as the input font code, and for the unregistered font code, changing the input character code to the font of the character indicated by the input character code. Third storage means for storing a common code conversion table for converting to a common code shown, and for each of the plurality of registered typeface codes, converting the common code into an output character code in a typeface indicated by each registered typeface code And a fourth storage unit for storing an output character code conversion table for storing the input character code. A registered typeface search unit for searching whether or not the input character code is stored in the first storage unit, and using the common code conversion table to convert the input character code to the common character A common code conversion unit that converts the input character code into a code, based on the common character code and the input character code, a priority order for the input character code is the highest among the registered character codes including characters of the character type indicated by the common code. An output font code is obtained by selecting a registered font code of a high font from the font alternative priority table, and the common code is converted to an output character code in the font indicated by the output font code using the output character code conversion table. Output code conversion means for conversion.

The common code is a code indicating the character style of the character indicated by the input character code. The common code is associated with the character code in the typeface of the unregistered typeface code by the common code conversion table, and is determined by the output character code conversion table. A plurality of registered font codes are associated with character codes in the font. When an unregistered typeface code is input, the output code conversion means uses the registered typeface code having the highest alternative priority among the registered typeface codes including the character of the typeface indicated by the input character code as the output typeface code. Selected. Also, the common code once converted from the input character code is converted to the output character code of the font indicated by the output font code. Therefore, a character having the same font as that of the character indicated by the input character code is output in a substitute registered font code having a higher priority.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a character output system as one embodiment of the present invention. This character output system includes a document output device 10 and a character pattern supply device 20. The document output device 10 has a document file analysis unit 12, a synthesis unit 14, and an output engine 16. The document file analysis unit 12 decodes a document file described in a page description language and creates character data Dc representing a character and graphic data Df representing a graphic. The character pattern supply device 20 stores character data D
c based on the character pattern data CP as described later.
Create D. The synthesizing unit 14 outputs the character pattern data CP
D and the graphic data Df are synthesized, and the image of the document including the graphic and the character is developed into the bitmap data BMD. The output engine 16 prints a document on printing paper according to the bitmap data BMD.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the character pattern supply device 20. Character pattern supply device 2
0 is a personal computer and has a CPU
22, ROM 24, RAM 26, and disk I / O
A magnetic disk 30 connected to the controller 28, a color CRT 34 connected to the display controller 32,
Keyboard 3 connected to keyboard controller 36
8 and a network controller 40.
Note that the character pattern supply device 20 may be realized by dedicated hardware.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the character pattern supply device 20. Character pattern supply device 2
0 indicates a registered font search unit 52 and a registered font list table 5
4, a common code conversion unit 56, a common code conversion table 57, a common code memory 58, an output code conversion unit 60, an output character code conversion table 61, a font alternative priority table 62, an output character code memory 64
, An output typeface code memory 66, a bitmap developing unit 68, a rasterizer 70, and a bitmap font 7
2 and an outline font 74. Among these elements, the registered typeface search unit 52, the common code conversion unit 56, the output code conversion unit 60, and the bitmap development unit 6
8 and the rasterizer 70 are realized by the CPU 22 executing a software program stored in the ROM 24 or read into the RAM 26 from an external storage medium (not shown). In addition, the bitmap font 72 and the outline font 74 are
Is stored in The common code memory 58, the output character code memory 64 and the output typeface code memory 66
26 is realized as a memory area secured in the memory 26. Further, the registered typeface list table 54, the common code conversion table 57, the output character code conversion table 61, and the typeface alternative priority table 62 are also stored in the RAM 26.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the registered contents of the registered typeface list table 54. In the registered font list table 54, the font codes (hereinafter referred to as “registered font codes”) F1 of all the fonts stored on the magnetic disk 30 are stored.
Fn (see FIG. 3) is registered.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the registered contents of the typeface substitution priority table 62. The font alternative priority table 62 includes a plurality of predetermined font codes other than the registered font codes (hereinafter referred to as “unregistered font codes”) NF1 to NF.
7 is a table in which the priorities of alternative registered typeface codes are registered for m. As the unregistered typeface code, among the typefaces not stored on the magnetic disk 30,
A typeface code that is likely to be used in an external character input device is selected.

As shown in FIG. 3, the document file analysis unit 1
The character data Dc given from the character code CC
, Typeface code FC, character size CS, resolution RE
And these are temporarily stored in the RAM 26 (FIG. 2). Character code CC and typeface code FC are RA
The character size CS and the resolution RE are provided from the M26 to the registered font search unit 52, and the bitmap developing unit 68.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the character pattern supply device 20 determines an output character code and an output font code of one character. In step S1, the registered font search unit 52 determines whether or not the input font code FC is registered in the registered font list table 54 (FIG. 4). If the typeface code FC is registered in the registered typeface list table 54, in step S10, the input character code CC and typeface code FC become the output character code and output typeface code as they are, and are output to the output character code memory 64. These are stored in the typeface code memory 66 (FIG. 3).

On the other hand, if the typeface code FC is not registered in the registered typeface list table 54, the process proceeds to steps S2 to S4.
The process of S9 is performed. First, in step S2, the common code conversion unit 56 converts the character code CC into the common code ZC using the common code conversion table 57, and stores the converted character code in the common code memory 58.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents of the common code conversion table 57. The common code conversion table is a table indicating the relationship between the character code CC and the common code ZC, and the registered content differs depending on the unregistered typeface code. FIGS. 7A and 7B show unregistered typeface codes NFi,
Common code conversion tables Ti, Ti + 1 for NFi + 1
Respectively. In the common code conversion table Ti, the character code CC is associated with the common code ZC in all the code ranges (8140 to F9FC) that the character code CC can take. The common code conversion table Ti uses a one-dimensional array having a capacity corresponding to the total number of character codes, and uses the common code ZC as each element of the one-dimensional array.
May be stored, and the character code CC may be used as the array index. Such a one-dimensional array has ZC = Ti
(CC). Note that FIGS. 7A and 7B
In FIG. 7, the character code CC is written in hexadecimal shift JIS code.

If the typeface code FC given to the common code conversion unit 56 is an unregistered typeface code NFi, the common code conversion unit 56 refers to the common code conversion table Ti shown in FIG. The character code CC is converted into a common code ZC. For example, a character code CC = 87E5 indicating one character “Meiji” is converted to a common code ZC = F040. In FIG. 7A, "Meiji", "Taisho", "Showa", and "Heisei" are special characters represented by one character code CC, respectively, and are output in one character frame. Is done.

As can be seen by comparing FIGS. 7A and 7B, in the two common code conversion tables Ti and Ti + 1, characters having the same font are converted into the same common code ZC. The character code CC of the first unregistered typeface NFi is
The character "Meiji" represented by 87E5 and the second unregistered typeface NFi +
Since these are different from the character (not shown) represented by the character code CC = 87E5, they are converted into different common codes ZC corresponding to the respective characters. The common code ZC thus obtained is temporarily stored in the common code memory 58.

Steps S3 to S9 are processes in which the output code conversion unit 60 obtains an output character code and an output font code based on the common code ZC and the font code FC. In step S3, the parameter j indicating the priority of the substitute font is set to 1. In step S4, it is determined whether the parameter j is equal to or less than the maximum value Max. The maximum value Max is equal to the number of alternative font codes registered in the font alternative priority table 62 (FIG. 5) for the unregistered font codes FC, and is different for each unregistered font code NFi. If j ≦ Max, the process proceeds to step S5.

In step S5, the j-th alternative font code SFj for the font code FC is read from the font alternative priority table 62. Here, FC = NF1,
Assuming that j = 1, the alternative font code of j = 1 in FIG. 5, that is, the font code F1 of the Mincho font is extracted as the alternative font code SF1.

In step S6, the output code converter 60
Thus, the common code ZC is converted into a character code of a substitute typeface. FIGS. 8A and 8B show an alternative typeface code SFj.
, SFj + 1 output character code conversion table 61
It is explanatory drawing which shows the content of each. In the output character code conversion table Uj, the common code ZC is associated with the output character code UC in all the code ranges (8140 to F9FC) that the common code ZC can take. The output character code conversion table Uj may use a one-dimensional array having a capacity corresponding to the total number of common codes, store the output character code UC as each element of the one-dimensional array, and use the common code ZC as an array index. . Such a one-dimensional array is written as UC = Uj (ZC).

As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the character code corresponding to the common code ZC differs depending on the substitute font. The alternative typeface code SF shown in FIG.
Since there is no character corresponding to the common code ZC = F043 in the typeface j, the output character code UC is set to a predetermined code value FFFF indicating that it is an undefined character.

In step S7, it is determined whether or not the value of the output character code UC obtained in step S6 is FFFF. If UC = FFFF, since the character does not exist in the alternative font selected in step S6, step S8
, The parameter j indicating the substitute font is incremented by one, and the process returns to step S4.

On the other hand, if UC is not FFFF in step S7, the process proceeds to step S10, where the output character code UC is stored in the output character code memory 64 (FIG. 3) and the alternative character code read out in step S5 is read. The font code SFj is stored in the output font code memory 66.

Steps S4 to S8 are repeatedly executed. If j> Max is satisfied in step S4, an output character code UC indicating an undefined character is output from the output character code conversion unit 60 in step S9. The data is written to the memory 64. This is because the character indicated by the common code ZC is not included in any of the registered fonts stored on the magnetic disk 30.

The output character code UC and the output typeface code UF obtained in this way have a character size CS and a resolution RE.
Is supplied to the bitmap developing section 68 (FIG. 3) to be converted into character pattern data CPD. When using the outline font 74 for this conversion,
The rasterizer 70 converts the outline font 74 into a raster, and the raster data is given to the bitmap developing unit 68.

FIG. 9 shows that the input character code CC and the typeface code FC are converted to the output character code UC according to the procedure of FIG.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state where the character is converted into an output typeface code UF. FIG. 9A shows the input character code CC and the character represented by the character code CC. Note that FIG.
All characters in (A) have the same typeface code FC = NFi
(Unregistered typeface NFi shown in FIG. 7A) is assigned.

FIG. 9B shows a common code ZC obtained by the common code conversion unit 56. For this conversion, a common code conversion table Ti shown in FIG. 7A is used. In the example of FIG. 9B, the common code ZC for "Showa" and "Heisei" is the input character code C
Although different from C, the common code ZC of the other characters is the same as the character code CC. This is because each character other than "Showa" and "Heisei" is a basic character common to each typeface. Note that these basic characters are also
A value different from the character code CC may be assigned to the common code ZC.

FIG. 9C shows the output character code UC and the output font code UF obtained by the output code conversion unit 60.
Are shown. At this time, two output character code conversion tables Uj and Uj + 1 shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B are used. For the common code ZC of characters other than “Heisei”, the undefined value FF is stored in the output character code conversion table Uj of the typeface of the first alternative typeface code SFj shown in FIG.
A valid output character code UC other than FF is registered.
Therefore, for characters other than "Heisei", the code converted in the output character code conversion table Uj becomes the output character code UC, and the substitute font code SFj becomes the output font code UF. On the other hand, for the common code ZC (= F043) of the character "Heisei", a value FFFF indicating an undefined character is assigned to the output character code conversion table Uj of FIG. 8A. Therefore, for this character, the code (87E3) converted according to the output character code conversion table Uj + 1 of the second alternative typeface code SFj + 1 becomes the output character code UC, and the alternative typeface code SFj + 1 becomes the output typeface code. UF.

In the above embodiment, the input typeface code F
Even when the document output device 10 does not have the typeface indicated by C, the same character can be output in a substitute typeface close to that typeface. In addition, for a character that is not in the first alternative typeface, another alternative typeface including the character is searched for and the character is output, so that the number of characters output as undefined characters can be significantly reduced.

In the above embodiment, the substitute font code SFj is set for each of the plurality of unregistered font codes (NF1 to NFm).
, The characters can be output in a substitute font that is as close as possible to the target font.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the following modifications are possible.

(1) In the procedure shown in FIG.
When C has not been registered, all character codes CC have been converted to a common code ZC. However, when the input character code CC is a character code of a common character, the character code CC may be stored in the output character code memory 64 as the output character code UC without being converted to the common code ZC. good. Here, the "common character" is a basic character to which the same character code common to each typeface is assigned, such as alphanumeric characters, hiragana, katakana, and JIS first and second level kanji characters. Contains. FIG.
Is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in such a case, in which steps S20 and S21 are added to the procedure of FIG.

If the input typeface code FC has not been registered, it is determined in step S20 whether or not the character code CC is a character code of a common character. If the character code CC is a character code of a common character, in step S21, the font code of the first alternative font SF1 for the font code FC is read, and this font code is stored in the memory as an output font code UF. This is because the common character is always included in the first alternative typeface SF1, and if the input typeface code FC is unregistered, it may be replaced with the first alternative typeface.

If the input character code CC is not the character code of the common character, the flow shifts to step S2,
An output character code UC and an output font code UF are obtained according to the same procedure as in FIG.

(2) FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a common code conversion table TTi used in the procedure of FIG. The common code conversion table TTi has a one-dimensional array composed of two elements, a character code CC and a common code ZC, for only characters other than the common characters. When converting the character code CC to the common code ZC using the common code conversion table TTi, the character code C
C is searched for a corresponding common code ZC. Since the common code conversion table TTi does not require data for all possible value ranges of the character code CC, the data amount can be greatly reduced as compared with the common code conversion table shown in FIG. There are advantages.

(3) FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an output character code conversion table UUj used in the procedure of FIG. The output character code conversion table UUj of FIG.
Is the common code ZC for only characters other than common characters.
And an output character code UC. This output character code conversion table UUj
When converting the common code ZC to the output character code UC by using, the common code ZC is searched to find the corresponding output character code UC. Since the output character code conversion table UUj does not require data for all possible value ranges of the common code ZC, the data amount can be significantly reduced as compared with the output character code conversion table shown in FIG. There is an advantage that you can.

(4) If all output character codes are common to each of the plurality of registered fonts, only one output character code conversion table can be used for those registered fonts.

[0041]

As described above, according to the character code converter of the present invention, when the typeface code is an unregistered typeface code, the character having the same typeface as the character indicated by the input character code is displayed. The character code can be output in a substitute typeface code with a higher registered priority. Therefore, even when the character output device does not have the typeface of the input character, it is possible to convert the character into an appropriate output character code and an output typeface code that can be output by the character output device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a character output system as one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the character pattern supply device 20.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing functions of the character pattern supply device 20.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing registered contents of a registered typeface list table;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing registered contents of a font alternative priority table.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of a process for determining an output character code and an output typeface code;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing registered contents of a common code conversion table.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing registered contents of an output character code conversion table.

FIG. 9 shows an output character code UC and an output font code U which are input in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a state of being converted into F.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a modification of the processing procedure.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the common code conversion table.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the output character code conversion table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Document output device 12 ... Document file analysis part 14 ... Synthesizing part 16 ... Output engine 20 ... Character pattern supply device 22 ... CPU 24 ... ROM 26 ... RAM 28 ... Disk I / O controller 30 ... Magnetic disk 32 ... Display controller 34 ... Color CRT 36 ... Keyboard controller 38 ... Keyboard 40 ... Network controller 52 ... Registered font search unit 54 ... Registered font list table 56 ... Common code conversion unit 57 ... Common code conversion table 58 ... Common code memory 60 ... Output code conversion unit 61 ... output character code conversion table 62 ... font alternative priority table 64 ... output character code memory 66 ... output font code memory 68 ... bitmap development unit 70 ... rasterizer 72 ... bitmap font 74 ... outline font MD: Bitmap data CC: Character code CPD: Character pattern data CS: Character size Dc: Character data Df: Graphic data F1 to Fn: Font code FC: Input font code j: Parameter indicating alternative font code NFi: Unregistered font Code RE: Resolution SFj: Alternative font code Ti, TTi: Common code conversion table Uj, UUj: Output character code conversion table UF: Output font code ZC: Common code

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G06F 17/21-17/27 G06F 3/153 G06F 5/00

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An input character code and typeface code,
What is claimed is: 1. A character code conversion device for converting a character code for output into a character code and a character code, respectively, comprising: first storage means for storing a plurality of registered type codes; and an unregistered type code not included in the plurality of registered type codes. For one of the plurality of registered typeface codes
Second storage means for storing a font alternative priority table indicating the priority of the registered font codes when one of the registered font codes is selected as an alternative font code; A third common code conversion table for storing a common code conversion table for converting to a common code indicating the font of the character indicated by the code
Storage means for storing, for each of the plurality of registered typeface codes, an output character code conversion table for converting the common code into an output character code in a typeface indicated by each registered typeface code; A registered font search means for retrieving whether or not an input font code is stored in the first storage means; and a common code if the input font code is not stored in the first storage means. A common code conversion unit that converts the input character code into the common character code using a conversion table; and a registered font including a character of the font indicated by the common code based on the common character code and the input font code. Among the codes, the registered typeface code of the typeface having the highest priority to the input typeface code is selected from the typeface alternative priority table. Output code conversion means for obtaining an output font code by selecting the output character code conversion table, and converting the common code to an output character code in a font indicated by the output font code using the output character code conversion table;
A character code conversion device comprising: