JP3317817B2 - Character generator - 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 generator, and more particularly, to a word processor, a computer,
The present invention relates to a character generation device that is applied to an electronic information processing device such as an electronic organizer and generates a character pattern by synthesizing a stroke pattern.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in this type of apparatus, there has been an increasing demand for generating or printing high-quality characters, and an outline font capable of realizing high-quality character output in place of a conventional bitmap font has been installed. Is needed. Such an outline font is stored in the system in the form of a font ROM or the like as coordinate values of a plurality of points obtained by sampling the outline of a character as font data. These coordinate values are read out as needed, coordinate-converted according to the character size, typeface, and the like, and then a character pattern is generated by painting the inside of the outline. This has the advantage of having a higher degree of freedom in the character pattern and generating smoother characters without jaggedness even when characters of various sizes are generated, as compared with the conventional bitmap fonts for character generation. , The amount of font data becomes very large. In addition, there is a problem that the processing time required for conversion to the bitmap is troublesome, and the processing speed is reduced.

Accordingly, as an apparatus for reducing the data amount of font data and increasing the speed of developing a character pattern, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 3-132798 discloses a table number and a starting point of a basic pattern constituting font data. A character generation device which has information such as the basic pattern and the enlargement / reduction ratio, sets the reference point of the basic pattern to coincide with the start point, converts the basic pattern into dot data, and then synthesizes and outputs a dot font pattern is known. Have been. Further, as a similar device, described in JP-A-6-167963,
A method for generating a character pattern that prepares graphic information (element information) representing a common graphic element constituting a character pattern and combines the graphic elements based on the configuration information of the graphic element in each character to generate a character pattern And devices are known.

[0004]

For example, while a character pattern is composed of a combination of various stroke patterns, a kanji is also composed of a combination of various radicals. Therefore, by creating these various radicals as specific stroke patterns and storing them in advance, by restoring the specific stroke patterns in a well-balanced manner and synthesizing them as font data, the types of stroke patterns can be reduced and the speed can be increased. Can generate characters.

However, in the character generator described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-132798, since the basic pattern has a simple shape, a number of basic patterns are required for each element (stroke pattern) in order to form one character pattern. Since it is necessary to represent a combination of patterns, the balance between the elements is easily lost, and the quality as a character pattern is reduced. Further, if the number of types of basic patterns increases, not only does the data capacity increase, but also the processing time for extracting the basic patterns and synthesizing the font data becomes longer, so that it is not suitable for generating character patterns such as Chinese characters.

In the method and apparatus for generating a character pattern described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-167963, when a character pattern is generated, the element number of a graphic element constituting the character is referred to, and Element data to be enlarged or reduced according to the character size and synthesized, so it is suitable for generating character patterns such as kanji, but for example, it is necessary to respond to changes in typeface and stroke thickness. Not configured. For this reason, the pattern of the same shape is always restored in the element part which is a graphic element, and the character pattern has no flexibility. When changing the typeface of a character pattern, there is a problem that element information of a different typeface is required for each character, and the data capacity increases.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide, for example, a character generating apparatus which does not degrade dot pattern quality when a character pattern is changed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a character generation device capable of reducing the data volume of a stroke pattern and restoring the stroke pattern at high speed by forming the pattern codes of the stroke patterns constituting the characters in a hierarchical structure. It is in.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the present invention includes a character data storage unit 101 storing character data including character codes for individual character patterns, pattern codes indicating stroke patterns, and restoration information indicating positions and sizes of stroke patterns. Standard stroke pattern of size, deformed stroke pattern of deformed size and transfer of the position of these pattern codes / stroke patterns
A pattern storage unit 102 in which restoration information including an offset value as a moving amount is stored, and an input unit 1 for inputting character code, character size, character pattern change information, and the like
03, a retrieval unit 104 for retrieving character data corresponding to the input character code from the character data storage unit 101, and when character pattern change information is inputted, the retrieved character data is converted into the pattern code / deformation stroke pattern. A changing unit 105 for changing to character data having restoration information, and a coordinate conversion unit 106 for performing coordinate conversion so that the position and size of the restoration information of the changed character data match the input character size.
A restoring unit 107 for restoring a stroke pattern based on restoration information after coordinate conversion, a developing unit 108 for developing the restored stroke pattern into a dot pattern, and an output unit 109 for outputting the developed dot pattern. A character generation device characterized in that:

In the present invention, the input unit 103
It is composed of input devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a pointing device. The character data storage unit 101, the pattern storage unit 102, the search unit 104, the change unit 105, the coordinate conversion unit 106, the restoration unit 107, and the development unit 108
It is composed of a microcomputer consisting of an OM, a RAM, and an I / O port. In particular, the ROM functions as a character data storage unit 101 and a pattern storage unit 102, and stores a stroke pattern constituting a character pattern and various data related thereto. The ROM stores a control program in which the CPU functions as the change unit 105, the coordinate conversion unit 106, the restoration unit 107, and the development unit 108. The RAM includes a change unit 105,
It functions as a work area for the coordinate conversion unit 106, the restoration unit 107, and the development unit 108. The output unit 109 includes a display device including a CRT display and an LCD display,
It is composed of a printing device including a thermal printer, an ink jet printer, a laser printer, and the like.

It is preferable that the stroke pattern is constituted by an outline font. Preferably, the stroke pattern is restored in a hierarchical structure based on a pattern code and restoration information. It is preferable that the stroke pattern is configured to be a pattern of radicals in Chinese characters.

According to the present invention, in FIG. 1, character data consisting of a character code, a pattern code indicating a stroke pattern, and restoration information indicating the position and size of a stroke pattern is stored in a character data storage unit 101 in FIG. And stores the standard stroke pattern of the standard size, the deformation stroke pattern of the deformation size, and the pattern code / restoration information thereof in the pattern storage unit 102.
When various information such as a change in a character code, a character size, and a character pattern is input from the input unit 103, character data corresponding to the input character code is searched from the character data storage unit 101 by the search unit 104. When the change information of the character pattern is input, the pattern code / restoration information of the character data searched with reference to the pattern storage unit 102 is changed to the character data having the pattern code of the deformation stroke pattern / restoration information. It is changed by the unit 105. The conversion unit 106 performs coordinate conversion so that the position and size of the restored information of the changed character data match the input character size, and the restoration unit 107 restores the stroke pattern included in the character data based on the restored information after the coordinate conversion. I do. Expanding the restored stroke pattern 1
In step 08, a dot pattern is developed, and the developed dot pattern is output from the output unit as a character pattern. Therefore, when a character pattern is changed, a plurality of pattern codes and restoration information included in one stroke pattern can be individually designated and restored to a stroke pattern suitable for each character pattern, so that the quality of the character pattern is not degraded. A character generation device can be provided.

[0012] By forming the pattern code into a hierarchical structure, character data can be represented only by the stroke code and the restoration information, so that the data capacity of the stroke pattern can be reduced and characters can be generated at high speed. When the stroke pattern is composed of radicals in kanji notation, the data volume constituting the kanji of the outline font data is reduced, and the stroke pattern is restored in a well-balanced manner by the restoration information, so that the quality as a kanji improves. .

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. The present invention is not limited by this. The present invention is applied to a character generation device of an electronic information processing device such as a word processor, a computer, and an electronic organizer.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the character generating apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an input device including a keyboard, a mouse, a pointing device, and the like, which inputs character code, character size, character pattern change information, and the like. Reference numeral 2 denotes a character data memory constituted by a ROM.
Character data including a pattern code indicating a stroke pattern constituting the character pattern and restoration information indicating the position and size of the stroke pattern is stored. Also, it functions as the character data storage unit in FIG. Reference numeral 3 denotes a pattern table memory composed of a ROM, which stores a stroke pattern normalized to a standard size and its pattern code / restoration information, a deformed stroke pattern for changing the font and its pattern code / restoration information. ing. Also, it functions as the pattern storage unit in FIG.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a program memory constituted by a ROM, which stores a control program for controlling various processes. Reference numeral 5 denotes a developing memory constituted by a RAM, which stores a dot pattern after developing the outline data after the coordinate conversion. Reference numeral 6 denotes a work memory constituted by a RAM, which is a work area for executing various processes;
Serves as a temporary buffer. Reference numeral 7 denotes an output device including a display device including a CRT display and an LCD display, and a printing device including a line thermal printer and an inkjet printer, and outputs a dot pattern generated as a character pattern.

Reference numeral 8 denotes a data processing unit constituted by a CPU. The data processing unit 8 converts character data corresponding to the input character code input from the input unit 1 into character data by a control program stored in the program memory 4. A search unit for searching from the data memory 2, and furthermore, when the change information of the typeface is input, the pattern code of the deformed stroke pattern corresponding to the change information and the restoration information from the pattern code of the character data searched with reference to the pattern table memory 3. A changing unit that changes the character data having the character data, a coordinate converting unit that performs coordinate conversion so that the position and size of the restored information of the changed character data match the input character size, and included in the character data based on the restored information after the coordinate conversion. Restoration unit that restores the stroke pattern to be restored, and converts the restored stroke pattern into a dot pattern Respectively function as the expansion portion for opening. Then, the data processing device 8 causes the output unit 7 to output the developed dot pattern as a character pattern.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the character generation device of the present invention. Hereinafter, description will be made according to this flowchart. Step S101: Start character generation processing. Step S102: The character code, character size, and change information input from the input device 1 are read into the data processing device 8. Step S103: Search the character data memory 2 for character data corresponding to the read character code. Step S104: The searched character data is read from the character data memory 2 into the data processing device 8. Step S105: Change to character data having a pattern code of a deformed stroke pattern and restoration information according to the change information. Here, a modified example (modification A) for increasing the thickness of the stroke pattern will be described.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing character data of "A" stored in the character data memory. For example, this character data represents "A", a character code indicating "A", outline data SD1 and SD2 as stroke data, and a pattern code (PC20) of a stroke pattern "Kosatohen" at the time of restoration. Restoration information (P1, P1) indicating the position and size of the necessary stroke pattern
2) The pattern code (PC30) of the stroke pattern “Kuchi” and its restoration information (P3, P4) are stored, respectively. Here, the two points of the restoration information indicate the coordinates of the opposite corners of the rectangular size surrounding the stroke pattern. The stroke data SD1 and SD2 may be respectively composed of pattern codes indicating the stroke patterns “1” and “Hanebo” and restoration information.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an image example of a stroke pattern having three types of sizes. In FIG. 5, for example, a pattern code PC1 which is a representative radical
0 indicates the stroke pattern of “Ninben”, the pattern code PC20 “Kazatohen”, and the pattern code PC30 “Kuchi”. The left column is a standard size stroke pattern, the middle column is a thick size stroke pattern, and the right column. Indicates a stroke pattern having a small size.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a modification of the pattern code and restoration information of the stroke pattern of FIG. 5 stored in the pattern table memory. When changing the character data, the transformation offset of the restoration information is obtained by using the offset values of the coordinate positions of the upper left and lower right points, which are the restoration information of the stroke pattern. For example, a change (deformation A) to increase the stroke thickness is performed on the character data “A”. First, the stroke data SD1, SD shown in FIG.
Increase the thickness of 2. This may be performed by a method of increasing the size by calculating from the stroke thickness at each point of the stroke data, by preparing an offset value indicating the moving amount of each point in advance, or by another method.

Next, the "kozatohen" represented by the pattern code PC20 is transformed using the transformation offset of the restoration information. When the modification A is performed on the PC 20 of the pattern code, the pattern code becomes the PC 21 from the pattern table memory, and the restoration information becomes the value (P1 ′, P2 ′) obtained by adding the offset value ΔA2. P1 ′ = P1 (X1, Y1) + ΔA2_1 (−1, +1) P2 ′ = P2 (X2, Y2) + ΔA2_2 (+1, −1) Therefore, “kozatohen” is changed to a thicker pattern, and the restoration information is also transformed A Is changed to a value suitable for Similarly, the pattern code is changed from PC30 to PC31 with respect to the next “Kuchi”, and the restoration information is a value (P3 ′, P4 ′) obtained by adding ΔA3. P3 ′ = P3 (X3, Y3) + ΔA3_1 (−1, +1) P4 ′ = P4 (X4, Y4) + ΔA3_2 (+1, −1) Thus, the processing of the modification A is completed. Further, the offset value ΔB of the restoration information corresponding to the deformation B can be used for the process of reducing the stroke thickness, but the description is omitted here. Further, since the pattern code PC10 is "Ninben", it does not relate to the character data of "A".

Step S106: Coordinate conversion such as enlargement or reduction is performed on the changed character data according to the character size read in step S102. The size of the character data before the coordinate conversion is M, and the character size read in step S102 is m. At this time, for the stroke data other than the stroke pattern in the character data, coordinate conversion is performed by multiplying each point coordinate by m / M. Further, for the stroke pattern, the pattern conversion is performed by multiplying m / M similarly for each point coordinate of the restoring information while keeping the pattern code as it is.

Step S107: It is determined whether or not a pattern code is included in the character data read into the data processing device 8. If the pattern code is included, the process proceeds to step S108. If not, the process proceeds to step S110. Step S108: Search the pattern table memory 3 for a pattern code in the character data. Step S109: A process of restoring a stroke pattern corresponding to the searched pattern code is performed. This restoration processing will be described below.

Now, the pattern code is PC 21 and the restoration information is (P1 ', P
2 '). To restore the stroke data, coordinate conversion of the constituent points of the stroke pattern PC21 is performed so that the size of the stroke pattern 021 becomes a rectangular size having two points of (P1 ′, P2 ′) as diagonals. This is done by restoring the pattern into this rectangular frame. After restoring “Kosatohen”, the process returns to step S107, where the stroke pattern of “Kuchi” that has not been restored is searched in the pattern table memory 3 and similarly restored using the restoration information (P3 ′, P4 ′). Step S110: Develop character data in which all pattern codes have been restored into a dot pattern. Step S111: The developed dot pattern is output to the output device 7. Step S112: end the processing.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing an image example of a stroke pattern composed of five types of radicals. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a pattern code and restoration information of the stroke pattern of FIG. In FIG. 7, for example, a pattern code PC1 indicates a stroke pattern of a “horizontal bar” composed of four points P10 to P13. The pattern code PC2 indicates a stroke pattern of “Kuchi” composed of 10 points P20 to P29. The pattern code PC3 is a stroke pattern of “words” composed of 10 points from P30 to P39, and the “kuchi” part of the pattern is composed of the pattern code PC2 and its restoration information. Other parts are pattern code PC
1 and its restoration information.

The pattern code PC4 is composed of P40 to P43.
The stroke pattern is a "two-in-one" stroke pattern composed of four points up to and including two pattern codes PC1. The pattern code PC5 is P50 to P
It is a stroke pattern of “dry” composed of eight points up to 57, and is composed of pattern codes PC4 and PC1. The pattern codes PC3 to PC5 have a hierarchical structure. Each stroke pattern is normalized to a certain size.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing stroke patterns and stroke data of character data "mute" and "note".
In FIG. 9, when the character data “mute” is read,
Since the “open” portion “mouth” is composed of the pattern code PC2, the enlargement / reduction conversion of the “created” portion “a” is performed based on the character size, and then the stroke data is restored. Now, the restoration information of PC2 is 2 points P
5, P6. To restore the stroke data, the coordinates of the points P20 to P29 are converted so that the size of the stroke pattern of the PC2 becomes a rectangle having two points P5 and P6 as diagonals. Do it by restoring within.

When the character data "" is read,
"Hen" part "words" is pattern code PC3
, So it is based on the character size
After the enlargement / reduction conversion of the part “self” is performed, the restoration processing of the stroke data is performed. As in the case of the character data “mute”, coordinate conversion of points P30 to P39 is performed so as to have a rectangular size with two points P7 and P8, which are restoration information of the PC3, as diagonals. PC1, PC2
After transforming only these points,
Restoration processing is further performed using the coordinate values as restoration information of each pattern code. The restoration process is repeated until all the pattern codes are restored to the stroke data. Here, an example is shown in which part of the character data is pattern-coded, but all of the character data may be pattern-coded. When restoring the same stroke pattern, the size of each stroke pattern included therein can be freely selected, and strokes of various shapes can be restored. In the present embodiment, an outline font of kanji has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0029]

According to the present invention, when a character pattern is changed, a plurality of pattern codes included in one stroke pattern and restoration information can be individually specified to restore a stroke pattern suitable for each character pattern. Therefore, the quality of the character pattern is not reduced. By forming the pattern code into a hierarchical structure, character data can be represented only by the stroke code and the restoration information, so that the data capacity of the stroke pattern can be reduced and characters can be generated at high speed. When the stroke pattern is composed of radicals in kanji notation, the data volume constituting the kanji of the outline font data is reduced, and the stroke pattern is restored in a well-balanced manner by the restoration information, so that the quality as a kanji improves. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the character generation device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the character generation device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing character data of “A” stored in a character data memory;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an image example of a stroke pattern having three types of sizes.

FIG. 6 FIG. 5 stored in a pattern table memory
FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a modified example of the pattern code of the stroke pattern and restoration information.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an image of a stroke pattern including five types of radicals.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a pattern code and restoration information of the stroke pattern of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing stroke patterns and stroke data of character data “mute” and “note”.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 input device 2 character data memory 3 pattern table memory 4 program memory 5 development memory 6 work memory 7 output device 8 data processing device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Susumu Hasegawa 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka, Osaka Inside Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Minehiro Konya 22-22, Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka, Osaka (56) References JP-A-6-149209 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G09G 5/24

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A character data storage unit for storing character data for each character pattern, the character data comprising a character code, a pattern code indicating a stroke pattern, and restoration information indicating the position and size of the stroke pattern, and a standard stroke having a standard size. Pattern, deformation stroke pattern of deformation size and their pattern code / stroke
Including the offset value, which is the amount of movement of the position of the
A pattern storage unit storing restoration information , an input unit for inputting character code, character size, character pattern change information, etc., and a search unit for searching the character data storage unit for character data corresponding to the input character code If, when the change information of a character pattern is inputted, and a changing unit that changes the retrieved character data to the character data having the pattern code / restore information deformation stroke pattern, the position of the restoration information of the changed character data has been A coordinate conversion unit that performs coordinate conversion so that the size matches the input character size, a restoration unit that restores a stroke pattern based on restoration information after the coordinate conversion, and a development unit that develops the restored stroke pattern into a dot pattern. An output unit for outputting the developed dot pattern. 2. The character generation device according to claim 1, wherein the stroke pattern is represented by an outline font. 3. The character generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said stroke pattern is restored in a hierarchical structure based on a pattern code and restoration information. 4. The character generation device according to claim 1, wherein the stroke pattern is a radical in Chinese characters.