JPH01108628A - Print processor with memory diagnosing function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To immediately perform diagnosis and investigation when abnormality is generated in a device by displaying state information from a memory on a display part when a printer is set in an inoperable state. CONSTITUTION:The state information of a device stored in a various kinds of memories (a backup buffer 9, a backup page buffer 10, a vertical control buffer 11, a job toner pattern buffer 12 and a horizontal control buffer 13) are displayed on the LCD 6a of a maintenance panel 6 by a diagnosis processing part 2 corresponding to a status. In such a way, it is possible to handle received information easily and effectively even when a fault is generated in a printer 14, and to perform the diagnosis and the investigation immediately when the abnormality is generated in the device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a print processing device suitable for use as a kanji printer or the like, and particularly to a print processing device equipped with a memory diagnostic function.

[Prior Art] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional micro program debugging method disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-46862. In the figure, 15 is a control memory, and 16 is an address control section. , 17 is a microinstruction execution control unit, 18A is a processor internal device, 19 is a microinstruction load\IJflJ unit, 20 is a main memory, 21 is a scan-in/out control unit, 22 is a device status information collection request generation unit, 23 is a general-purpose microprocessor as a means for collecting device status information; 24 is a common bus; 25 is a scan-in/out bus;
．． Microinstruction execution control unit 17. Microinstruction load control unit 19. Main memory memory 20. The main processing section IA is composed of the device status information collection request generating means 22 and the general-purpose microprocessor 23.

Next, the operation will be explained.

When a firmware routine (consisting of a microprogram) is activated, microinstructions are sequentially read from the control memory 15 from the beginning of the firmware routine to the microinstruction execution control unit 17 under the read control of the address control unit 16. The read microinstruction is decoded and sent to the processor internal device 18A.
Drive each Unirad. The registers that hold the fruiting device status information are updated.

The above operation is an operation in the running state of normal processing.

On the other hand, when debugging a firmware routine, when the general-purpose microprocessor 23 is started, the device status information collection program in the general-purpose microprocessor 23 is executed by the scan-in-out control unit 21.
Sends register address information for which information is to be collected to , and activates the register to collect information. The activated scan-in-out control unit 21 scans out the information contents of the register from the processor internal device 18 via the scan-in-out bus 25 based on the received address information, and scans out the information contents of the register from the processor internal device 18 via the scan-in-out bus 25. micro processor 2
Store in memory within 3.

The device status information collection program in the general-purpose microprocessor 23 edits and processes the information contents of the register received in the above procedure, and then outputs the edited information to the main memory 20 via the common bus 24.

When the above operations are repeatedly executed to complete collecting information on the target registers, the device status information collection program executes an instruction to generate a device status information collection completion notification signal and terminates the program.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the above-described method, in order to check the information contents of the registers output to the main memory 20, it is necessary to check the information contents stored in the main memory 20 (device status information). ) is simply output to the outside, but there is no device to specifically print or display it, so there is a problem that the information content cannot be handled easily. Further, even if a printing device is provided to display the above-mentioned information contents, if this printing device becomes unusable due to a malfunction or the like, the information contents cannot be handled at all.

This invention was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and makes it possible to easily display the information contents of various memories (registers) that store device status information. An object of the present invention is to provide a print processing device with a memory diagnostic function, which allows the state of the device to be easily investigated even when the device is in use.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A print processing device with a memory diagnostic function according to the present invention includes a printing device that prints print data, etc., and a memory that stores status information of the device. and a diagnostic processing section that causes the display section to display the status information from the memory when the printing device is in an unusable state.

[Function] In the print processing device with a memory diagnostic function according to the present invention, when the printing device cannot be used due to a failure or the like, the diagnostic processing section displays the contents of the memory that stores the device status information on the display section. displayed so that device status information can be easily inspected and handled.

[Embodiment 4 of the Invention] An embodiment of the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1st
In the figure, 1 is a main processing section (corresponding to the main processing section IA of the conventional device shown in FIG. 3) which edits print data etc. and sends it to the print processing section 5, which will be described later. 2 is installed in the main processing section 1. a diagnostic processing unit that performs processing for a diagnostic function;
3 is the FDD that holds print data etc. 4 is this FDD 3
5 is a print processing section that performs printing processing (scanning/output of the conventional device shown in
(corresponding to the in/out control 21), and 6 is an LCD (corresponding to the in/out control 21) as a display unit for displaying information contents to be described later in response to commands from the diagnostic processing unit 2 for maintenance.
a maintenance panel (7) having a liquid crystal display (7a) and an operation function for inputting display commands (commands);
1 is a panel driver that controls the input and output of this maintenance panel 6; 8 is a print control unit that controls printing; 9 is a backup buffer that stores backup data;
0 is a backup page buffer that stores print data in print format, 11 is a vertical control buffer that controls the vertical position, 12 is a job toner pattern buffer that stores job marks and toner mark patterns, and 13 is a horizontal buffer. 14 is a printing device that performs printing; 18 is a processor internal device;
The backup buffer 9. in the processor internal device 18 corresponds to the processor internal device 18A in the conventional device shown in the figure. Backup page buffer 10. Vertical control buffer 11. The job toner pattern buffer 12 and the horizontal control buffer 13 correspond to various registers (memories) that store the state of the apparatus. Also, 2
6 is an operating system.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the main operations of this device. First, in step S1, the maintenance panel 6
A necessary memory address is designated by the , and panel input is performed by the panel driver 7 in step S2.

Then, in step S3, the diagnostic processing unit 2 requests the print processing unit 5 for the memory contents to be input, and in step S
At step 4, the print processing unit 5 that received the request stores the backup buffer 9.4, which is various types of memory. Backup page buffer 10. Vertical control buffer 11° Sends data (information content) from job toner pattern buffer 12 and horizontal control buffer 13 to diagnostic processing section 2.

Next, in step S5, the diagnostic processing unit 2 determines whether the printing device 14 can be used, and if it is not usable, in step S7, the diagnostic processing unit 2 performs editing processing for displaying on the maintenance panel 6, In step S8, the memory dump is displayed on the LCD 6a of the maintenance panel 6. In step S9, it is determined whether the specified memory address has ended or not, and if the specified memory address has ended, the process ends, and if the memory address is in the middle, step S7
The subsequent processing continues until the end of the specified address.

On the other hand, if the printing device 14 can be used as determined in step S5, the memory dump is printed by the printing device 14 using the character code read from the FDD 3 in step S6.

As described above, according to the device of this embodiment, various memories (backup buffer 9, backup page buffer 1
0. Vertical control buffer 11. Since the device status information stored in the job toner pattern buffer 12 and the horizontal control buffer 13) is displayed on the LCD 6a of the maintenance panel 6 according to the situation by the diagnostic processing section 2, even if the printing device f14 is out of order, The obtained information can now be handled easily and effectively, and if an abnormality occurs in the equipment, diagnosis and investigation can be carried out immediately.

In the above embodiment, the maintenance panel 6 having a function for inputting commands is provided with an LCD 6a for displaying the information, but a panel having a display section exclusively for dumping may be provided, and the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. In addition to this, there is also the advantage that the display section can be made larger and the amount of data that can be displayed at one time can be larger than in the above embodiments. In addition, the display unit is not limited to LCD, but CRT
Various devices can be used, such as a display device.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the device status information stored in the memory is configured to be displayed on the display unit by the diagnostic processing unit depending on the situation. Even in such a case, the obtained information can be handled easily and effectively, and if an abnormality occurs in the device, diagnosis and investigation can be carried out immediately.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a print processing device with a memory diagnostic function according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the device of the above embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a debugging method. In the figure, 2...diagnosis processing section, 6a...LCD as a display section, 9...backup buffer, 10-
Backup page buffer, 11...Vertical control buffer, 12...-Job toner pattern buffer, 1
3.--horizontal control buffer, 14.--printing device. In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a print processing device comprising a printing device for printing print data etc. and a memory for storing status information of the device, a display section capable of displaying the status information stored in the memory and used by the printing device 1. A print processing device with a memory diagnostic function, further comprising a diagnostic processing unit that causes the display unit to display the status information from the memory when the print processing device is unable to perform a print processing.