JP4419316B2 - Data output device and recording medium - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a data output device and a recording medium, and more particularly to a column output of data such as a document.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a data output device that arranges and outputs a document covering a plurality of pages in a stacked manner on a printing paper.
In this type of data output apparatus, one page of printing paper is divided into a plurality of output areas, and each page data of the document is expanded or reduced to a size corresponding to each output area in each of these output areas, and the pages are arranged in the order of the pages. Arrange and output.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional data output apparatus, when a plurality of different documents are output in series, the user has to perform an editing operation to rearrange the pages of each document in the order of output.
[0004]
With reference to FIG. 16, an example in which a plurality of different documents are output in a group by a conventional data output apparatus will be described.
As shown in FIG. 16, for example, when each page of a document A composed of a plurality of pages and each page of a document B composed of a plurality of pages are associated with each other and output in a vertical arrangement, the user outputs the document A. A-1 page, A-2 page,..., Document B is divided into page units such as B-1 page, B-2 page,. The column function is executed after rearranging in the order of the first page, the B-1 page, the A-2 page, the B-2 page, and so on. Then, the data output device arranges and outputs each page data in the upper and lower stages of the printed page in order from the first page of the rearranged data. As a result, the A-1 page is arranged in the upper stage on the first printed page, the B-1 page is arranged in the lower stage, and the A-2 page is arranged in the upper stage on the second printed page. Then, the B-2 page is arranged in the lower row.
[0005]
As described above, when a plurality of documents are arranged in association with each other, it is necessary to execute the column function after rearranging the order of pages in the document in the output order. For this reason, when the number of pages of the document is large, not only a long time is required for the editing work, but also it takes time and burden on the user.
[0006]
Also, if the paper orientation of each page to be stacked is mixed vertically and horizontally, pages that do not match the size and direction of the output area of the print paper cannot be arranged in the output area, and the print paper A part of the output area was left blank, and it was output in the same size on the next page.
[0007]
With reference to FIG. 17, an example will be described in which, when the paper directions of the pages to be stacked are mixed vertically and horizontally, those pages are output in a column by a conventional data output device.
As shown in FIG. 17, for example, the first page (page A-1) of the pages to be arranged is “horizontal”, the second page (page B-1) is “vertical”, the third page ( When page A-2) is set to "Landscape" and page 4 (Page B-2) is set to "Portrait", the pages are arranged in the "Portrait" printing paper in that order. When the column function is executed to output, the data output apparatus first arranges the A-1 page (horizontal) in the upper area of the first printed page. Next, it is determined whether the B-1 page can be arranged in the lower area of the first printed page. Since the aspect ratio of the empty area of the printed page is different from the aspect ratio of the B-1 page, the arrangement is impossible. The B-1 page is arranged on the entire printed page (second page). Similarly, since page A-2 has the same aspect ratio as the printed page, it is arranged in the upper area of page 2 of the printed page, and page B-2 differs from the aspect ratio of the printed page. (4th page).
[0008]
For this reason, the lower area of the first page and the third page of the printed page is blank, and the appearance when outputting in a column is not good. Further, since the number of printing sheets to be used is not different from that before the column setting, there is no point in outputting in a column setting.
[0009]
An object of the present invention is to provide a data output device and a recording medium capable of easily arranging and outputting a plurality of different types of documents.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a data output device capable of arranging and outputting a column without creating a useless blank area even when vertical and horizontal pages are mixed in a document to be columned, and a recording To provide a medium.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to solve such a problem, the data output device according to claim 1 is a data output device that outputs a plurality of page unit data respectively arranged in a plurality of output areas formed in one page, Multiple application programs, files corresponding to each application program, andpageAccording to the display means for displaying the designation screen for designating the number and the data entered on the designation screen displayed by this display means,eachStart the application programEachCompatible with application programseachfilereading, Corresponding to each application programeachFile and itseachfile ofpageNumberStore in association with column pagesSetting means, reading means for reading a plurality of page unit data from files set by a plurality of different types of setting means, each page unit data of the file read by the reading means, Each page unit data of the file is set by the setting meansColumn pageAnd an output unit that outputs data arranged by the arrangement unit.
  A computer-readable recording medium on which the program according to claim 2 is recorded comprises a computer of a data output device for arranging and outputting a plurality of page unit data in a plurality of output areas formed in one page, Multiple application programs, files corresponding to each application program, andpageDisplay means for displaying a designation screen for designating a number, according to the data entered on the designation screen displayed by this display means,eachStart the application programEachCompatible with application programseachfileRead eachCompatible with application programseachFile and itseachfile ofpageNumberStore in association with column pagesSetting means, reading means for reading a plurality of page unit data from files set by a plurality of different types of setting means, each page unit data of the file read by the reading means, and other file Each page unit data is set by the setting meansColumn pageIt is characterized by functioning as an arrangement means for arranging the output areas in a row in association with each other, and an output means for outputting data arranged by the arrangement means.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a data output device 1 according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0013]
[First Embodiment]
First, the configuration will be described.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the data output apparatus 1 of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, a data output device 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2, an input device 3, a display device 4, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 5, a printing device 6, a storage device 7, and a recording medium 8. The transmission control unit 9 is configured, and each unit excluding the recording medium 8 is connected by a bus 10.
[0014]
The CPU 2 stores, in the work memory 5 w in the RAM 5, application programs designated from various application programs corresponding to the data output device 1 stored in the storage device 7 and various instructions input from the input device 3. In response to the input instruction and input data, various processes are executed in accordance with the application program stored in the RAM 5, and the processing results are stored in the work memory 5 w in the RAM 5 and displayed on the display device 4. Then, the processing result stored in the work memory 5w is stored in the storage destination in the storage device 7 instructed from the input device 3.
[0015]
Further, the CPU 2 executes an overall process (see FIG. 6) described later.
In the overall processing, the CPU 2 reads the initial menu screen 4a (see FIG. 7) from the storage device 7 and displays it on the display device 4. On this initial menu screen 4a, the application and document designation, the direction and size of the printing paper, Accept specification of column system (number of columns and mode). Then, data is read in units of files for a plurality of designated different applications and a plurality of different documents, stored in the file reading memory 5a of the RAM 5, and information about each document from the file stored in the file reading memory 5a. Information for management in units (hereinafter referred to as component page information) is created and stored in the component page management memory 5b. Here, the “configuration page” means page unit data in each document, and exists for the total number of pages of each document.
[0016]
Further, when the size, orientation, column setting method, and constituent page to be set are specified on the initial menu screen 4a, the CPU 2 stores the specified contents in the column page management memory 5c. At this time, the page number information of the constituent pages arranged in a column on the same print page is stored in association with each other.
Hereinafter, the constituent pages designated as the column target are referred to as “column pages”, and each page of the printing paper is referred to as “print page”.
[0017]
Furthermore, when a column print execution instruction is input, a print page is created in which pages of a plurality of associated documents are arranged in columns in output regions provided in the print page in accordance with the above-mentioned specified contents. Therefore, an automatic column processing (see FIG. 8) described later is executed.
When two output areas are formed on the printed page, in the following description, the left or upper output area of these output areas is referred to as the left (upper) area, and the right or lower output area is referred to as the right (upper). (Bottom) The area.
[0018]
In the automatic column processing, the CPU 2 fetches page number information arranged in the left (upper) area and page number information arranged in the right (lower) area from the column page management memory 5c in order from the first page. An arrangement position for a column page (hereinafter referred to as a left (upper) column page) to be arranged in the (upper) area is determined. Here, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are different. If the orientations are the same, the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned on, the new page flag 5h is turned on, and further The left (upper) arrangement flag of the arrangement process is turned ON, and an arrangement process (see FIG. 10) described later is executed. In this case, in the placement process, a new print page is added to the print page management memory 5d according to the state of each flag, and this left (upper) column page is placed in the left (upper) area. Set to “Left (Up)”.
[0019]
If the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are different, the orientation flag 5g between the printed page and the constituent page is turned off, the new page flag 5h is turned on, and the left (upper) placement flag of the placement processing is turned on. Execute the placement process. In this case, in the placement process, a new print page is added to the print page management memory 5d, and the placement flag is set to “whole” so that the left (upper) column page is placed on the entire print page.
When the arrangement for all the left (upper) column pages is completed, the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is turned ON.
[0020]
Next, the CPU 2 determines an arrangement position for a column page to be arranged in the right (lower) area (hereinafter referred to as a right (lower) column page). Here, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is ON in order to determine whether the arrangement of all the associated left (upper) column pages has ended. In the case of OFF, in order to determine whether the right (lower) column page can be arranged in the right (lower) region, it is determined whether the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page are the same.
[0021]
If the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF and the orientations of the printed page and constituent page are different, the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and constituent page is turned OFF, and the right (lower) arrangement flag is turned ON. To execute the placement process. In this case, in the arrangement process, the arrangement flag is set to “right (upper)” in the printed page management memory 5d so that the right (lower) column page is arranged in the right (lower) area.
[0022]
If the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF and the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page is the same, the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned ON, the new page flag 5h is turned ON, and The right (lower) placement flag is turned ON and the placement processing is executed. In this case, in the placement process, a new print page is added to the print page management memory 5d, and the placement flag is set to “whole” so that the right (lower) column page is placed on the entire print page.
[0023]
Similarly, when the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is ON, it is next determined whether or not the orientation of the printed page is the same as that of the constituent page.
[0024]
If the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is ON and the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are different, the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned OFF, the new page flag 5h is turned ON, and further The right (lower) placement flag is turned ON to execute the placement processing. In this case, in the placement process, a new print page is added to the print page management memory 5d, and the placement flag is set to “right (bottom) so that the right (bottom) column page is placed in the right (bottom) area of the new print page. ) ”.
[0025]
When the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is ON and the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are the same, the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned ON, the new page flag 5h is turned ON, and The right (lower) placement flag is turned ON to execute the placement processing. In this case, in the placement process, a new print page is added to the print page management memory 5d, and the placement flag is set to “whole” so that this constituent page is placed on the entire new print page.
When the processing is completed for all the right (lower) column pages, the right (lower) column page end flag 5f is turned ON.
[0026]
In the arrangement process, when arranging the column pages in the left (upper) region or the right (lower) region, the CPU 2 calculates the reduction ratio so that each column page fits in each output region. Then, the CPU 2 determines the reduction rate, and if the reduction rate does not fit in the output area unless the reduction rate is remarkably increased (the output size is reduced), the output character points, typeface, line feed, shift, etc. for this page are set. The calculated reduction ratio, the changed format, and the like are stored in the print page management memory 5d so that the changed size and format are output.
[0027]
When the left (upper) column page end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are both turned ON, the CPU 2 stores the generated print page configuration information as print page configuration information in the print page management memory 5d. . Thereafter, the CPU 2 displays a print preview screen (not shown) on the display device 4 based on the print page information stored in the print page management memory 5d. When a confirmation instruction is input, the print data is sent to the printing device 6. Output and print.
[0028]
The input device 3 includes a keyboard having a cursor key, numeric input keys, various function keys, and the like, and a mouse, and outputs a press signal pressed by the keyboard and a mouse position signal to the CPU 2.
[0029]
The display device 4 is configured by a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), or the like, and performs screen display of various display data according to display instructions input from the CPU 2.
[0030]
The RAM 5 has a memory area for storing designated application programs, input instructions, input data, processing results, and the like.
[0031]
FIG. 2 shows the memory configuration of the RAM 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the RAM 5 includes a file reading memory 5a, a configuration page management memory 5b, a column page management memory 5c, a printed page management memory 5d, a left (upper) column page end flag 5e, and a right (lower) column. It has various memory areas and various flags such as a page end flag 5f, a print page and component page orientation flag 5g, a new page flag 5h, a spool file 5i, and a work memory 5w.
[0032]
In the file reading memory 5a, data of a plurality of designated documents is read and stored in units of files from the document file stored in the recording medium.
[0033]
The constituent page management memory 5b is a memory that manages the data of each document as constituent page information in units of pages.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data configuration of the configuration page management memory 5b. As shown in FIG. 3A, the constituent page management memory 5b stores the total number of pages of each document and a pointer to the first page information. Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, page information for a plurality of constituent pages in each document is stored in association with a pointer to the first page information. The page information includes the component page number (page number in the document), its application name and document name, document paper size, paper orientation, spool file ID assigned to each file for file identification, and the next page. A pointer to information is included and stored for the total number of constituent pages.
[0034]
The column page management memory 5c is a memory that manages the size and orientation of the printing paper designated by the user, and information about the page (column page) designated as the column target among the above-described constituent pages.
FIG. 4 shows the data structure of the column page management memory 5c. As shown in FIG. 4A, the column page management memory 5c stores the designated paper size and the designated paper orientation, and the top of the column page arranged on the left (upper). A pointer to the page number information and a pointer to the first page number information of the column page arranged on the right (lower) are stored in association with each other. That is, a plurality of different documents arranged in a column on one print page are stored in association with each other. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, page number information for each column page arranged on the left (upper) and page number information for each column page arranged on the right (lower) are stored. Is done. Each page number information includes a page number (page number in the document), a pointer to page information in the constituent page management memory 5b, and a pointer to next page number information. Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, the page information in the page number information is associated with the corresponding page information in the constituent page management memory 5b by the pointer.
[0035]
The print page management memory 5d is a memory that manages print page information created in an automatic column processing executed by the CPU 2.
FIG. 5 shows the data structure of the print page management memory 5d. As shown in FIG. 5A, the print page management memory 5d stores the size of the print paper to be actually printed, the direction of the print paper, and the pointer to the first print page number information. Also, as shown in FIG. 5B, the print page number information for each print page is stored in association with the pointer to the first print page number information. The print page number information includes a print page number, a pointer to first page configuration information, and a pointer to next print page number information.
[0036]
Further, as shown in FIG. 5C, the print page management memory 5d stores configuration information of each print page. The printed page configuration information includes, for each column page arranged in one print page, an arrangement flag indicating the arrangement position, a reduction rate of each column page, a format after change, a pointer to page information, and the next print A pointer to page number information is included and stored for the number of printed pages.
[0037]
The placement flag is a flag for setting which of the output areas formed on the print page is the placement position. When the print page has two output areas, “left (upper)”, “ “Right (lower)” and “whole” are set.
Further, as shown in FIG. 5D, each print page configuration information is associated with the corresponding page information in the configuration page management memory 5b by a pointer to the page information.
[0038]
The left (upper) column page end flag 5e is a flag that is set to ON when the arrangement process is completed for all left (upper) column pages.
The right (lower) column page end flag 5f is a flag that is set to ON when the arrangement process is completed for all right (lower) column pages.
[0039]
The orientation flag 5g between the printed page and the constituent page is a flag that is turned on when the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are the same.
The new page flag 5h is a flag that is turned ON when a new print page is added to the print page number information in the print page management memory 5d in the arrangement process.
Each of these flags 5e to 5h is set and referred to in the automatic column processing and placement processing.
[0040]
The spool file 5i is a memory area for storing a plurality of documents of a plurality of applications in a file format, and a spool file ID is assigned to each file as an individual identification number.
[0041]
The work memory 5w stores designated application programs, input instructions, input data, processing results, and the like.
[0042]
The printing device 6 prints the created print data on a print sheet in accordance with a print instruction from the CPU 2.
[0043]
The storage device 7 includes a recording medium 8 in which a program, data, and the like are stored in advance, and the recording medium 8 is configured by a magnetic or optical recording medium or a nonvolatile memory such as a semiconductor. The recording medium 8 is fixedly attached to the storage device 7 or is detachably mounted. The recording medium 8 includes a system program of the data output device 1 and various processing programs corresponding thereto, and Data processed by these programs is stored.
[0044]
The program, data, etc. stored in the recording medium 8 are partly or entirely received from an external device such as a server or client from the transmission control unit 9 via a transmission medium such as a network line and stored. Alternatively, the recording medium 8 may be a server recording medium constructed on a network. Further, the program may be transmitted to a server or a client via a transmission medium such as a network line and installed in these devices.
[0045]
The transmission control unit 9 is configured by a modem (MODEM / DEModulator), a terminal adapter (TA), or the like, and performs control for communicating with an external device via a network. In order to communicate with an external device such as a personal computer via a telephone line, the modem modulates the digital data processed by the CPU 2 into an analog signal suitable for the frequency band of the telephone line, and also via the telephone line. The terminal adapter converts the existing interface into an interface corresponding to ISDN in order to communicate with an external device such as a personal computer via the ISDN line. It is a device to do.
[0046]
Next, the operation will be described.
Here, a program for realizing each function described in each flowchart shown below is stored in the recording medium 8 of the data output device 1 in the form of a readable program code, and the CPU 2 stores the program code. The operation according to is executed sequentially. Further, the CPU 2 can sequentially execute the operation according to the program code transmitted via the transmission medium. In other words, in addition to the recording medium, the program / data externally supplied via the transmission medium can be used to execute the operation specific to this embodiment.
[0047]
First, an overall operation of processing executed when data of a plurality of different documents created by an application is output in a group will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the overall processing flow.
[0048]
First, when a display instruction for the initial menu screen 4a is input from the input device 3, the CPU 2 reads the initial menu screen 4a from the recording medium 8 and displays it on the display device 4 (step S1).
[0049]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the initial menu screen 4a.
As shown in FIG. 7, in the initial menu screen 4a, an application designation column 41 for designating an application, a document designation column 42 for designating a document, and a page (column page) to be targeted for the column among the designated documents are designated. Page designation field 43, paper size designation field 44 for designating the size of paper to be printed, paper direction designation field 45 for designating the direction of paper to be printed, column method (number of columns and automatic column mode / sheet direction change column) A column method designation field 46 for designating a group mode) is provided.
[0050]
The application specification field 41, document specification field 42, paper size specification field 44, paper direction specification field 45, and column method specification field 46 are pull-down menus, respectively, to the right of each specification field 41, 42, 44, 45, 46. Clicking the provided button with a mouse displays a list of selectable options. For example, in the case of the paper size designation field 44, in addition to “A4”, printable paper sizes such as “B5”, “A3”, and “B4” are displayed in a list. If the paper direction such as “vertical” and “horizontal” is displayed in a list and the column method designation field 46 is displayed, the number of columns such as “2 columns” and “4 columns”, and the automatic column mode / paper direction changing column are displayed. A list of column modes such as group mode is displayed.
[0051]
When the application name and the document name are specified in the application specification column 41 and the document specification column 42, the CPU 2 starts the specified application, reads the specified document from the recording medium 8, and displays it on the display device 4. The information is displayed and stored in the file reading memory 5a of the RAM 5 (steps S2 to S6). If no document is specified and a cancellation instruction is input (step S5; Yes), the process proceeds to another process according to the input instruction. If no release instruction is input (step S5; No), the input of another application is awaited.
[0052]
  For example, a plurality of different documents (a document name “presentation.doc” of the application “application A” and a document name “of the application“ application B ”“Supplement.xls ") are arranged and arranged, and when it is desired to create and output the document, first, as shown in FIG. 7A, the application name" When "App A" is entered and the document name "Presentation.doc" is entered in the document designation field 42, "App A" is activated, and the document "Presentation.doc" is read and displayed. Is stored in the file reading memory 5a.
[0053]
Further, the CPU 2 accepts designation of other applications and other documents until a confirmation instruction is input from the input device 3 (Step S7; No → Steps S2 to S6).
[0054]
  For example, in the above-described example of creating the “plan” document, as shown in FIG. 7B, the application name “application B” is input in the application designation field 41 of the initial menu screen 4a, and the document name “SupplementEnter ".xls" and "App B" is launched and the document "Supplement.xls "is read out, displayed, and stored in the file reading memory 5a.
[0055]
After that, when a confirmation instruction is input (step S7; Yes), the CPU 2 creates component page information for managing information related to documents in units of pages based on the information of all documents stored in the file reading memory 5a. It is stored in the constituent page information management memory 5b (step S8). That is, the CPU 2 obtains the total number of pages from the information of each document stored in the file reading memory 5a, and adds a pointer to the first page information of the document to obtain the constituent page information. Further, the constituent page number, paper size, paper orientation, and spool file ID of each page in the document are extracted, and a pointer to the next page information is added to obtain page information.
[0056]
  Next, the CPU 2 designates information relating to the column (page number information, paper size, paper orientation, and column method) in each of the designation fields 43 to 46 of the initial menu screen 4a, and inputs a column printing execution instruction. (Step S9; Yes), the designated page number information, paper size, paper orientation, and column method are stored in the column page management memory 5c (Step S10). Here, the CPU 2 manages the first pages of different documents in the column pages in association with each other. That is, the pointers to the first page number information of the column pages of each document are managed in association with each other. For example, in the above-mentioned example of creating the “plan” document, the number “first page” of the first page of one document “Presentation.doc” and the other document among the two columns of two designated documents. "SupplementThe number “6th page” of the first page of “.xls” is stored in association with each other.
[0057]
Further, the CPU 2 for each designated column page, a page number of each column page (page number in the document), a pointer to the corresponding page information in the constituent page management memory 5b, and a pointer to the next page number information Are stored in the column page management memory 5c as page number information. The page number information is created for each document.
[0058]
With the above processing, when the configuration page information and page information are created in the configuration page management memory 5b and the column page information and page number information are created in the column page management memory 5c, the CPU 2 then performs automatic column processing. Is executed (step S11).
[0059]
In step S9, when a column printing execution instruction is not input, normal column processing is executed (step S12).
[0060]
FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of automatic column processing.
In the automatic column processing, the CPU 2 first determines whether the designated column method is the automatic column mode or the paper direction change mode (step S21). If it is the paper orientation changing mode (step S21; Yes), the paper orientation changing column for automatically changing the paper orientation and arranging the columns when the orientation of the paper on each columnar page is mixed vertically and horizontally. Processing is executed (step S22). This sheet direction changing column processing will be described in detail in the second embodiment.
[0061]
When the designated column method is the automatic column mode (step S22; No), the CPU 2 displays the page number information of the column page to be arranged in the left (upper) area from the column page management memory 5c and the right ( Bottom) The page number information of the column pages to be arranged in the area is acquired (step S23), and in order to associate the page information of the constituent page management memory 5b with each acquired page number information, a pointer to the corresponding page information is set. In addition, it is stored in the column page management memory 5c as column page information (step S24). Then, both the left (upper) column page end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are turned off (step S25).
[0062]
Next, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the two end flags 5e and 5f are both set to ON, that is, whether or not the arrangement processing for the left (upper) column page and the right (lower) column page has been completed. It discriminate | determines (step S26).
[0063]
If the arrangement process has not been completed for all the column pages (step S26; No), it is possible to capture one page of the left (upper) side column page, that is, arrange it on the left (upper). It is determined whether or not there is any unplaced column page (step S27). If there is a left (upper) side column page that is not arranged (step S27; Yes), it is determined whether the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page is the same for the captured left (upper) side column page (Step S28).
[0064]
If the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are different (step S28; No), the new page flag 5h is turned on with the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page being OFF (step S29), and further arrangement processing is performed. The left (upper) placement flag is turned on (step S30), and the placement processing is executed (step S31). Details of the arrangement processing will be described later.
[0065]
When the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are the same (step S28; Yes), the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned on (step S32), the new page flag 5h is turned on (step S29), and further left (Upper) The arrangement flag is turned on (step S30), and the arrangement process is executed (step S31).
[0066]
Next, the CPU 2 performs processing for the right (lower) column page. First, it is determined whether or not one page of right (lower) column pages can be fetched, that is, whether or not a right (lower) column page that has not been arranged remains (step S33). If there is a right (lower) column page that has not been finished (step S33; Yes), the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is checked to determine whether it is ON or not ( Step S34).
[0067]
Here, the CPU 2 sets the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page and the new page flag 5h according to the state of the left (upper) column page end flag 5e and the difference in the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page.
FIG. 9 shows the print page and component page according to the difference in orientation between the printed page and the component page and the state of the left (upper) column page end flag 5e in the process of arranging the column page in the right (lower) region. It is a figure which shows the relationship between direction flag 5g and new page flag 5h.
[0068]
If the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF (step S34; No), it is determined whether or not the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page is the same for the captured right (lower) column page ( Step S35).
[0069]
If the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF and the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are different (step S35; No), the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page remains OFF. Then, the right (lower) arrangement flag is turned on (step S36), and the arrangement process is executed (step S37).
[0070]
If the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF and the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page is the same (step S35; Yes), the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned ON (step S39). ), The new page flag 5h is turned on (step S40), the right (lower) placement flag is turned on (step S36), and the placement processing is executed (step S37).
[0071]
Similarly, when the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is ON (step S34; Yes), it is similarly determined whether the printed page and the constituent page are in the same direction (step S38). .
[0072]
If the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is ON and the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page is the same (step S38; Yes), the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned ON (step S39). ), The new page flag 5h is turned on (step S40), the right (lower) placement flag is turned on (step S36), and the placement processing is executed (step S37).
[0073]
When the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is ON and the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are different (step S38; No), the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page remains OFF. Then, the new page flag 5h is turned on (step S40), the right (lower) placement flag is turned on (step S36), and the placement processing is executed (step S37).
[0074]
FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the arrangement process.
As shown in FIG. 10, in the layout process, the CPU 2 first checks the new page flag 5h, and if it is set to ON (step S51; Yes), the new information is added to the print page number information in the print page management memory 5d. Print page number information is set (step S52), and then the orientation flag 5g of the print page and the constituent page is confirmed. When the orientation flag 5g of the print page and the constituent page is ON (step S53; Yes), the arrangement flag of the print page constituent information associated with the print page number information is set to “whole print page” (step S54). ), The arrangement process is terminated.
[0075]
When the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is OFF (step S53; No) and the left (upper) layout flag is set to ON (step S55; Yes), the print page number information is associated with the page number information. The placement flag of the printed page configuration information is set to “left (upper)” (step S56).
[0076]
Further, when the orientation flag 5g of the print page and the constituent page is OFF and the left (upper) arrangement flag is set OFF (Step S53; No → Step S55; No), the print page number information is included in the print page number information. The arrangement flag of the associated print page configuration information is set to “right (down)” (step S57).
[0077]
Next, when the CPU 2 arranges the column pages in the left (upper) region or the right (lower) region, the column pages are arranged so that each of the column pages fits in the left (upper) region or the right (lower) region, respectively. Therefore, the reduction ratio is calculated (step S58). When the reduction rate is calculated, the CPU 2 further determines whether or not the calculated reduction rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined reduction rate (for example, 50%). If the reduction ratio is equal to or greater than the predetermined reduction ratio (step S59; Yes), the character is changed even if the output size is reduced by changing the format of the character point, typeface, line feed and shift of the data of the constituent page. It sets so that it may be easy to see (step S60).
[0078]
Thereafter, the CPU 2 sets the calculated reduction ratio in the print page configuration information in the print page management memory 5d. If the format of the component page has been changed, the format after the change is also set in the print page configuration information in the print page management memory 5d (step S61), and the arrangement process ends. If the reduction ratio is smaller than the predetermined reduction ratio and the output size does not become too small (step S59; No), the calculated reduction ratio is used as the print page configuration information in the print page management memory 5d without changing the format. (Step S61), and the arrangement process is terminated.
[0079]
When the arrangement processing for the left (upper) column page and the right (lower) column page is completed, the CPU 2 returns to step S26 and confirms whether each column page can be fetched, and left (upper). If a column page cannot be captured (step S27; No), the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is turned on (step S41), and if a right (lower) column page cannot be captured (step S33; No). ), The right (lower) column page end flag 5f is turned ON (step S42).
[0080]
When both the left (upper) column page end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are turned on, the process proceeds to the next process (step S13 of the overall process in FIG. 6).
[0081]
In the overall processing, when the automatic column processing in step S11 is completed, the CPU 2 stores the specified paper size and paper orientation as print page information in the print page management memory 5d, and the automatic column processing and arrangement processing described above. From the result, the print page number information and the print page configuration information for each print page are created and stored in the print page management memory 5d (step S13).
[0082]
Thereafter, when an output instruction is input from the input device 3, the CPU 2 inputs the generated print page information into a GDI (Graphical Device Interface) and displays a print preview screen on the display device 4 (step S14). When a confirmation instruction is input from the input device 3 (step S15; Yes), print page information is output to the printing device 6 to be printed (step S16). If the confirmation instruction is not input (step S16; No), the process returns to step S2, and the application and document are specified, the column is specified, the constituent page information, the column page information, the print page information is created, and the display is output. When the confirmation instruction is input after that, the print page information is output to the printing device 6 to be printed, and the entire series of processes is terminated.
[0083]
  Here, the column arrangement according to the first embodiment will be described with a specific example. FIG. 11 shows each document (“presentation.doc”, “application B”) of two applications (“application A” and “application B”).Supplement.xls ”), one of which is a text and the other is a supplementary sentence. An example of creating a column document arranged in two columns in association with“ A4 portrait ”printing paper is shown.
[0084]
  The column pages are the first to fifth pages of the document “Presentation.doc” of “App A” (in order to identify each page, page a, page b, page c, page d, Page e)) and the “App B” document “Supplement6th to 10th pages of “.xls” (in order to identify each page, they are referred to as page f, page g, page h, page i, and page j, respectively, as shown in FIG. 11). The orientation of the paper on the multi-column pages is all “horizontal”.
[0085]
In the automatic column processing, the page number information of the column pages arranged in the upper region and the page number information of the column pages arranged in the lower region are respectively acquired from the column page management memory 5c by the processing of steps S23 to S24. Then, the corresponding page information in the constituent page management memory 5b is acquired to create column page information and stored in the column page management memory 5c. Next, the left (upper) column page end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are turned off by the processing in step S25. In steps S26 to S27, the two column page end flags are both OFF, and one page (the first page a at this stage) can be fetched in the upper column page. Since the orientation is different, the new page flag 5h is turned on and the left (upper) placement flag is set by the processing of steps S29 to S30 while the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is kept OFF. Turn on and perform the arrangement process of step S31.
[0086]
In the layout processing, it is determined in step S51 that the new page flag 5h is ON, the new print page number information is added to the print page number information, the print page and component page orientation flag 5g is OFF, and the left ( Upper) Since the arrangement flag is set to ON, the arrangement flag is turned on to the left (upper) of the newly added print page by the processing of steps S52 to S55. Thereafter, the reduction ratio is calculated by the processing of steps S58 to S61. When the reduction ratio is large and the format is changed, the format is changed to a predetermined format, and the automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is ended. Accordingly, the page a is arranged in a reduced size in the upper area of the first printed page.
[0087]
Next, by the processing of steps S33 to S34 of the automatic column processing, one page of the lower column page (first page f at this stage) can be fetched, and the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF. Next, in step S35, the difference in orientation between the printed page and this page f is determined, and the orientations are different. Therefore, the orientation flag 5g between the printed page and the constituent page remains OFF and the right ( Bottom) The placement flag is set to ON, and placement processing is performed in step S37.
[0088]
In the layout process, the new page flag 5h is OFF, the print page and component page orientation flag 5g is OFF, and the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF. The placement flag is turned on (below). Thereafter, the reduction ratio is calculated by the processing of steps S58 to S61. When the reduction ratio is large and the format is changed, the format is changed to a predetermined format, and the automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is ended. Therefore, the page f is reduced and arranged in a lower area of the first printed page at a predetermined output size.
[0089]
Next, returning to step S26, the two end flags 5e and 5f are confirmed, and since both end flags 5e and 5f are both OFF, the upper column page is set to one page (here, the next column page) It is determined whether the page b) can be captured. Since page b can be taken in, next, in step S28, the difference in orientation between the printed page and this page b is determined and the orientation is different. As a result of this process, the new page flag 5h is set to ON, the left (upper) layout flag is set to ON, and the layout process of step S31 is executed.
[0090]
In the layout process, since it is determined in step S51 that the new page flag 5h is ON, new print page number information (second page) is added to the print page number information in step S52, and the orientation flag between the print page and the constituent page is displayed. Since 5g is OFF and the left (upper) placement flag is set to ON, the placement flag is turned on to the left (upper) of the newly added print page by the processing in steps S53 to S56. Thereafter, the reduction ratio is calculated by the processing of steps S58 to S61. When the reduction ratio is large and the format is changed, the format is changed to a predetermined format, and the automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is ended.
Accordingly, the page b is arranged with a reduced output size in the upper area of the second printed page.
[0091]
Next, by the processing of steps S33 to S34 of the automatic column processing, one page of the lower column page (first page g in this stage) can be fetched, and the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF. Therefore, in step S35, the difference in orientation between the printed page and this page f is determined, and the orientations are different, so the orientation flag 5g between the printed page and the constituent page remains OFF and the right (bottom) is processed by the processing in step S36. The arrangement flag is turned on, and the arrangement process in step S37 is executed.
[0092]
In the layout process, the new page flag 5h is OFF, the print page and component page orientation flag 5g is OFF, and the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is OFF. The placement flag is turned on (below). Thereafter, the reduction ratio is calculated by the processing of steps S58 to S61. When the reduction ratio is large and the format is changed, the format is changed to a predetermined format, and the automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is ended. Therefore, the page f is reduced to a predetermined output size in the lower area of the second printed page.
[0093]
Similarly, page c, page d, page e of application A, page h, page i, and page j of application B are similarly processed. Page h is arranged at the bottom, page d is arranged at the top, page i is arranged at the bottom, page e is arranged at the bottom, page e is arranged at the top, and page j is arranged at the bottom. The
[0094]
Thereafter, in step S27 and step S33, it is confirmed whether or not the upper column page and the lower column page can be taken in. However, since there is no subsequent column page, the left (upper) column page is processed by the processing in steps S41 and S42. The end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are turned ON, respectively. Thereafter, in step S23, it is determined that both the end flags 5e and 5f are ON, and the automatic column processing ends.
[0095]
As described above, according to the data output device 1 of the first embodiment, one printed page is divided into a predetermined number of output areas, and a plurality of constituent pages are arranged and output. At this time, since different types of documents are arranged in association with each output area and output, the CPU 2 manages the data of each document read from the file in the unit page management memory 5b. Among the constituent page information managed in units, the constituent pages arranged in a column on the same print page are associated with each other and managed by the column page management memory 5c.
[0096]
Therefore, the user can specify a plurality of documents, and specify a page to be set from among them, and can output a plurality of different types of documents in association with one print page. Therefore, when multiple documents of different types are arranged, it is not necessary to perform editing operations such as rearranging the order of each constituent page in the output order, so that document creation is facilitated and work time is shortened. .
[0097]
In addition, since the output size of each component page is reduced and arranged so that each associated component page can be accommodated in each output area of the printed page, the related pages are not included in a plurality of pages, but within one page. Can be placed and created easy-to-read documents.
[0098]
Further, when reducing the page size, it is determined whether or not the predetermined reduction ratio is exceeded. If the page size is higher than the predetermined reduction ratio (when the output size is extremely small), the data of the constituent pages is determined. The document format is easy to read without changing the format (character point, typeface, line feed, line feed, etc.) so that the characters in the document will not be difficult to see even if the output size is reduced due to reduction. Can be created.
[0099]
In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the output area of one printed page is two, and the constituent pages are arranged in columns on the top and bottom or left and right. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Two or more output regions may be provided, and three or more columns may be performed. In addition, when the orientation of the printed page is different from the orientation of the constituent page, two constituent pages are arranged on one printed page. However, when the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page are the same, a plurality of constituent pages are arranged. You may make it arrange | position a structure page.
[0100]
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the first page numbers of a plurality of consecutive pages of a plurality of different documents are associated with each other and each successive page is arranged on the same printing paper has been described. By managing a plurality of non-continuous pages in association with each other in the page management memory 5c, non-contiguous pages of a plurality of documents may be arranged on the same printing paper.
[0101]
[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the data output apparatus 1 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0102]
In the second embodiment, since the configuration of the data output device 1 is the same as that of the data processing device 1 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the description is omitted, and the same reference numerals are given to the same parts. To explain.
[0103]
The memory configuration of the RAM 5 is the same as that of the RAM 5 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, but a direction change flag is added to the print page configuration information in the print page management memory 5d.
[0104]
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of the print page management memory 5d according to the second embodiment. In addition to the data configuration of the print page management memory 5d of the first embodiment, the print page management memory 5d includes an arrangement flag, a reduction ratio / format, and page information as print page configuration information as shown in FIG. 5C. In addition to a pointer to and a pointer to next print page number information, a direction change flag is stored.
[0105]
The direction change flag is a flag that is set to ON in an automatic paper direction change arrangement process (see FIG. 14), which will be described later, when the orientations of the printed page and the constituent pages are different, and this direction change flag is set to ON. If the orientation of the component page is “vertical” at the time of display or print output, it is changed to “horizontal”, and if it is “horizontal”, it is changed to “vertical” and placed at the print page layout position and output. .
[0106]
In the second embodiment, as shown in the first embodiment, the data processing apparatus 1 simply arranges a plurality of different types of constituent pages in association with each other on one print page. However, when the paper directions of a plurality of constituent pages (column pages) to be arranged are mixed vertically and horizontally, they are automatically arranged in the same direction.
In other words, the CPU 2 sets the direction change flag to ON when the aspect ratio of the printed page and the constituent page is different, and changes the direction of the constituent page whose direction change flag is ON when performing print output. And output.
[0107]
Hereinafter, the paper direction changing column processing according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that details of the entire process are the same as those in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. The configuration page management memory 5b and the column page management memory 5c of the RAM 5 store configuration page information about the configuration page, page information for each page, column page information, page number information for each column page, and the like. It shall be.
[0108]
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the paper direction changing column processing.
This paper orientation changing column processing is executed when the paper orientation changing column mode is designated in the column method designation column 46 of the initial menu screen 4a. That is, when the automatic column processing is executed in step S11 of the overall processing shown in FIG. 6, it is determined in step S21 of the automatic column processing shown in FIG. If the changed column mode is designated, the process proceeds to the paper direction changing column process in step S22.
[0109]
In the paper orientation changing column processing, first, the CPU 2 reads page number information of column pages to be arranged in the left (upper) area from the column page management memory 5c and page numbers of column pages to be arranged in the right (lower) region. Information is acquired (step S71), the page information in the constituent page management memory 5b is associated with each acquired page number information (a pointer to the corresponding page information is added), and column pages are set as column page information. Store in the management memory 5c (step S72). Then, both the left (upper) column page end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are turned OFF (step S73).
[0110]
Next, the CPU 2 determines whether or not the two end flags 5e and 5f are both set to ON, that is, whether or not the arrangement processing for the left (upper) column page and the right (lower) column page has been completed. A determination is made (step S74).
[0111]
If the arrangement processing has not been completed for all the column pages (step S74; No), it is possible to further fetch one page of the left (upper) column page, that is, the column to be arranged on the left (upper). It is determined whether or not there are any remaining pages in the set page (step S75). If there is a left (upper) side column page that has not been arranged (step S75; Yes), it is determined whether the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page is the same for the captured left (upper) side column page (Step S76).
[0112]
If the orientation of the printed page is different from that of the constituent page (step S76; No), the new page flag 5h is turned on with the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and constituent page being OFF (step S77), and further arrangement processing is performed. The left (upper) arrangement flag is turned on (step S78), and automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is executed (step S79). Details of the automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing will be described later.
[0113]
When the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are the same (step S76; Yes), the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned on (step S80), the new page flag 5h is turned on (step S77), and further left (Upper) The arrangement flag is turned on (step S78), and automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is executed (step S79).
[0114]
Next, the CPU 2 performs processing for the right (lower) column page. First, it is determined whether one page of right (lower) column pages can be fetched, that is, whether or not right (lower) column pages that have not been subjected to the automatic paper orientation changing arrangement process remain (step S81). ). If there is a right (lower) column page that has not been finished (step S81; Yes), it is determined whether the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page is the same for the captured right (lower) column page. It discriminate | determines (step S82).
[0115]
If the orientations of the printed page and the constituent page are different (step S82; No), the right (lower) arrangement flag is turned on with the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page being OFF (step S83). Automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is executed (step S84).
[0116]
When the orientation of the printed page and the constituent page is the same (step S82; Yes), the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned on (step S85), and the right (lower) arrangement flag is turned on (step S83). Then, the automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is executed (step S84).
[0117]
FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining the flow of the automatic paper direction changing arrangement process.
As shown in FIG. 14, in the automatic paper direction changing arrangement process, the CPU 2 first checks the new page flag 5h, and if it is set to ON (step S91; Yes), the print page in the print page management memory 5d. The new print page number information is set in the number information (step S92), and the left (upper) arrangement flag of the configuration information of the new print page is turned on (step S93). When the new page flag 5h is not set to ON (step S91; No), the right (lower) arrangement flag of the configuration information of the new print page is turned on (step S94).
[0118]
Next, the CPU 2 checks the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page. If the orientation flag 5g of the print page and the constituent page is ON (step S95; Yes), the direction change flag of the print page constituent information associated with the print page number information is set to ON (step S96). If the orientation flag 5g for the printed page and the constituent page is OFF (step S95; No), the direction change flag is turned OFF.
[0119]
Next, when the CPU arranges the column pages in each output area of the print page, the column pages are arranged so that each of the column pages fits in the left (upper) region or the right (lower) region. The rate is calculated (step S97). When the reduction rate is calculated, the CPU 2 further determines whether or not the calculated reduction rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined reduction rate (for example, 50%). If the reduction rate is equal to or greater than the predetermined reduction ratio (step S98; Yes), even if the output point is reduced by changing the character point of the data of the constituent page, the typeface, the size of line feed and shift, etc. Is set so as to be easy to see (step S99).
[0120]
Thereafter, the CPU 2 sets the calculated reduction ratio in the print page configuration information in the print page management memory 5d. If the format of the component page has been changed, the format after the change is also set in the print page configuration information in the print page management memory 5d (step S100), and the automatic paper direction changing / arranging process ends. If the reduction ratio is smaller than the predetermined reduction ratio and the output size does not become too small (step S98; No), the calculated reduction ratio is used as the print page configuration information in the print page management memory 5d without changing the format. (Step S100), and the automatic paper direction changing arrangement process is terminated.
[0121]
When the automatic paper direction changing and arranging process is completed for the left (upper) column page and the right (lower) column page, the CPU 2 returns to step S74 to check whether each column page can be fetched. If the left (upper) column page cannot be imported (step S75; No), the left (upper) column page end flag 5e is turned on (step S86), and if the right (lower) column page cannot be acquired (step S86) Step S81; No), the right (lower) column page end flag 5f is turned ON (step S87).
[0122]
When both the left (upper) column page end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are turned on in this way (step S74; Yes), the next process (the entire process in FIG. 6) is performed. To step S13). Since the subsequent processing is the same as the processing (steps S13 to S16) in the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted.
[0123]
  Here, the columnar arrangement for automatically changing the direction according to the second embodiment will be described with a specific example. FIG. 15 shows each document (“presentation.doc”, “application B”) of two applications (“application A” and “application B”).Supplement.xls ”), one of which is a text and the other is a supplementary sentence. An example of creating a column document arranged in two columns in association with“ A4 portrait ”printing paper is shown.
[0124]
  The column pages are the first to fifth pages of the document “Presentation.doc” of “App A” (in order to identify each page, page a, page b, page c, page d, Page e)) and the “App B” document “Supplement6th to 10th pages of “.xls” (in order to identify each page, they are referred to as page f, page g, page h, page i, and page j, respectively, as shown in FIG. 15). The orientation of the paper on the multi-column page is a mixture of “vertical” and “horizontal”.
[0125]
In the paper direction changing column processing, the page number information of the column pages arranged in the upper region and the page number information of the column pages arranged in the lower region are obtained from the column page management memory 5c by the processing of steps S71 to S72. Each is acquired, the corresponding page information in the constituent page management memory 5b is acquired, column page information is created, and stored in the column page management memory 5c. Next, the left (upper) column page end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are turned off by the processing in step S63, respectively. In steps S74 to S75, the two column page end flags are both turned OFF, and one page (the first page a at this stage) can be taken in the upper column page. The direction difference from a is determined, and the directions are different. Therefore, the new page flag 5h is turned on by the processing of steps S77 to S78 while the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is kept OFF, and the left (upper) placement flag Is turned on, and the automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing in step S79 is performed.
[0126]
In the automatic paper orientation changing arrangement process, it is determined in step S91 that the new page flag 5h is ON, the new print page number information is added to the print page number information, and the print page and component page orientation flag 5g is OFF. In addition, since the left (upper) placement flag is set to ON, the placement flag is turned on to the left (upper) of the newly added print page by the processing in steps S92 to S93. Further, since the orientation flag 5g for the printed page and the constituent page is OFF, the direction change flag is maintained OFF. Thereafter, the reduction rate is calculated by the processing of steps S97 to S100. When the reduction rate is large and the format is changed, the format is changed to a predetermined format, and the processing is terminated. Therefore, the page a is arranged in the upper area of the first printed page without changing the direction (“horizontal”).
[0127]
Next, in step S81 of the paper orientation changing column processing, it is determined whether or not one lower page can be taken in (the first page f in this stage). Since the difference in orientation from f is determined and the orientation is different, the right (lower) placement flag is set to ON by the processing in step S83 while the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page remains OFF, and in step S84. Automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing is executed.
[0128]
In the automatic paper direction changing arrangement process, the new page flag 5h is set to OFF, so the right (lower) arrangement flag is turned ON by the processes of steps S91 to S94. Further, since the orientation flag 5g for the printed page and the constituent page is OFF, the direction change flag is maintained OFF. Thereafter, the reduction ratio is calculated by the steps S97 to S100, and when the format is changed with a large reduction ratio, the format is changed to a predetermined format, and the process is terminated. Accordingly, the page f is arranged in the lower area of the first printed page without changing the direction (“horizontal”).
[0129]
Next, returning to step S74, the two end flags 5e and 5f are confirmed, and both end flags 5e and 5f are OFF, so that the upper group page is set to one page (here, the next column page) by the process of step S75. It is determined whether the page b) can be captured. Since the page b can be taken in, the difference in orientation between the printed page and this page b is determined in step S76, and the orientation is the same. In step S80, the orientation flag 5g between the printed page and the constituent page is set ON. The new page flag 5h is set to ON by the processing of Steps S77 to S78, the left (upper) placement flag is set to ON, and the automatic paper direction change placement processing of Step S79 is executed.
[0130]
In the automatic paper direction changing arrangement process, it is determined in step S91 that the new page flag 5h is ON, the new print page number information (second page) is added to the print page number information, and the left (upper) arrangement flag. Is set to ON, the arrangement flag on the left (upper) of the newly added print page by the processing of steps S92 to S93 is turned ON. Further, since the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is set to ON, the direction change flag is set to ON. Thereafter, the reduction ratio is calculated by the steps S97 to S100. When the format is changed with a large reduction ratio, the format is changed to a predetermined format, and the automatic paper direction change arrangement process is terminated. Therefore, the page b is arranged in the upper area of the second printed page (changed from “vertical” to “horizontal”).
[0131]
Next, in step S81 of the automatic column processing, one page (the first page g in this stage) can be fetched in the lower column page. Next, in step S82, the difference in orientation between the printed page and this page g is determined. Since the orientations are different, the right (lower) placement flag is turned on by the processing of step S83 while the orientation flag 5g of the printed page and the constituent page is turned off, and the automatic paper direction changing placement processing of step S84 is executed.
[0132]
In the automatic paper orientation changing arrangement process, it is determined in step S91 that the new page flag 5h is set to OFF, and the arrangement flag is turned on to the right (down) by the process in step S94. Further, since the orientation flag 5g for the printed page and the constituent page is set to OFF, the direction change flag is maintained OFF. Thereafter, the reduction ratio is calculated by the steps S97 to S100. When the format is changed with a large reduction ratio, the format is changed to a predetermined format, and the automatic paper direction change arrangement process is terminated. Therefore, the page g is arranged in the lower area of the second printed page without changing the direction (“horizontal”).
[0133]
Similarly, the same processing is performed for page c, page d, and page e of application A, and page h, page i, and page j of application B. By the automatic paper direction changing arrangement process, the page c is arranged in the upper stage in the same direction on the third printed page, and the page h is arranged with the direction changed in the lower stage. The page d in the upper row and the page h in the lower row are arranged with their directions changed, and the page e is arranged in the upper row and the page j is arranged in the lower row on the fifth printed page.
[0134]
Thereafter, in step S75 and step S81, it is confirmed whether or not the upper column page and the lower column page can be taken in. However, since there is no subsequent column page, the left (upper) column page is processed by the processing in steps S86 and S77. The end flag 5e and the right (lower) column page end flag 5f are both turned ON, and then it is determined in step S74 that both the end flags 5e and 5f are ON, and the automatic column processing ends. Automatic column processing ends.
[0135]
As described above, in the second embodiment, when the orientation of paper is mixed vertically and horizontally in the constituent pages to be stacked, the constituent pages are automatically set for pages having the same paper orientation as the printed pages. The direction of is automatically changed and arranged in columns.
[0136]
Therefore, even when pages with different paper orientations coexist, the orientation of each page can be aligned and arranged on the printed page, so that useless blank areas are eliminated and the paper can be used efficiently.
[0137]
Further, similar to the automatic column processing of the first embodiment, it can be applied when each page of different documents is grouped on the same print page. Even when it is desired to arrange them in a stacked manner, the user can create each document without being aware of the paper direction.
[0138]
In the above-described first and second embodiments, the example in which the output size of the constituent page is reduced when the constituent page is arranged on the printed page has been described. You may make it arrange | position by expanding the output size of a page, respectively.
[0139]
Further, in the first and second embodiments described above, an example in which the printed pages arranged in a column are output as they are, but bag binding printing or double-sided printing may be further applied when outputting.
In addition, the method of determining the layout location of each column page, the data content of each component page, the format to be changed when the format is changed, and the like are arbitrary, and are appropriately within the scope of the present invention. It can be changed.
[0140]
【The invention's effect】
  According to the present invention, a designation screen for designating a plurality of application programs and the page number of the file is displayed, and according to the data input on the designation screen, each application program is started to read each file, Since the page number of each file corresponding to the application program is stored in association with the column page, the process of allocating and outputting each file corresponding to each application program to the column page automatically from the start of each application program it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a data output device 1. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a memory configuration of a RAM 5;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a configuration page management memory 5b.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a data configuration of a column page management memory 5c.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a print page management memory 5d.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the overall processing flow;
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of an initial menu screen 4a.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of automatic column processing.
FIG. 9 shows a printed page according to a difference in orientation between a printed page and a component page and a state of a left (upper) column page end flag 5e when a component page is arranged in the right (lower) region in automatic column processing. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a configuration page orientation flag 5g and a new page flag 5h.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of arrangement processing.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a plurality of different documents are associated with each other and arranged in two stages on a print sheet.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration of a print page management memory 5d according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a paper direction changing column process.
FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of automatic paper direction changing arrangement processing.
FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an example in which a columnar page direction in which the orientation of paper is mixed is automatically changed to arrange columns;
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of outputting a plurality of different documents in a column in conventional column printing.
FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining an example of outputting each page in a column when the paper orientation of each page to be columned is mixed vertically and horizontally in conventional column printing.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Data output device
2 CPU
3 Input devices
4 display devices
5 RAM
5a File reading memory
5b Configuration page management memory
5c Column page management memory
5d Print page management memory
6 Printing device
7 Storage device
8 Recording media
9 Transmission control unit

Claims (2)

A data output device for arranging and outputting a plurality of page unit data in a plurality of output areas formed in one page,
Display means for displaying a plurality of application programs, a file corresponding to each application program, and a designation screen for designating the page number of the file;
According to the data entered at the specified screen displayed by the display means, and start each application program reads each file corresponding to the each application program, the page number of each file and its respective files corresponding to each application program Setting means for storing the information in association with the column pages ;
Reading means for reading out a plurality of page unit data respectively from files set by a plurality of different types of setting means;
Each page unit data of the file read by the reading unit and each page unit data of the other file are arranged in the output area in association with the column page set by the setting unit . An arrangement means to
Output means for outputting the data arranged by the arrangement means;
A data output device comprising: A computer of a data output device for arranging and outputting a plurality of page unit data in a plurality of output areas formed in one page,
Display means for displaying a designation screen for designating a plurality of application programs, a file corresponding to each application program, and a page number of the file;
According to the data entered at the specified screen displayed by the display means, each file and page number of the respective files corresponding to each application program reads each file corresponding to the each application program to start each application program Setting means for storing in association with column pages ;
Reading means for reading out a plurality of page unit data respectively from files set by a plurality of different types of setting means,
Each page unit data of the file read by the reading unit and each page unit data of the other file are arranged in the output area in association with the column page set by the setting unit . Arrangement means,
Output means for outputting the data arranged by the arrangement means;
A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for functioning as a computer is recorded.

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