JPH02159615A - Controller of printer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To concurrently execute plural processings, for instance, a hexadump processing and a command processing by constituting the controller so that data can be fetched concurrently by plural pointers from an input buffer. CONSTITUTION:To an input buffer, a command interpreter and a hexadata converting part are connected, and also, plural pointers are provided so that data can be fetched independently from the input buffer. For instance, one and the other can execute a hexadump processing and a command processing, respectively by a prescribed software, and while executing the hexadump processing, a response can be executed to a host device. In such a way, information of debug and a claim file in a market can be collected by bringing only a necessary part of the data to hexadump processing, and it is executed efficiently.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a controller for a printer device.The present invention can also be applied to communication equipment.

[Prior Art] Printer devices that have an input buffer that stores data from a host device and print based on the data from the host device are widely known.

Some conventional printer devices have a hex dump function that prints data sent from a host device in hexadecimal code without performing any normal command operations.

Hex dump is used to write out the data sent from the host device as hexadecimal code when unexpected printing occurs in the printer device, such as irregular printing, wrong font, unexpected characters, etc. It is used when writing memory contents or data.

With the hex dump function of conventional printers, status request commands sent when you want to know the status of the printer, such as print position, line spacing (VMI), character spacing (HMI), and font type, can also be interpreted as commands. The application software that sends the status request command, looks at the response from the printer, and then determines the next command to send is running on the host device. When using the printer, there were cases where the same data could not be dumped due to a problem that occurred in normal print mode.

Some applications may stop further operations when there is no response to a status request, and in this case, hex dumping cannot actually be performed.

Furthermore, hex dumping in conventional printer devices could only be started and ended by operating a switch on the panel. Therefore, when debugging, it is necessary to operate the switch on the panel of the printer device each time, so all the data is written out, and it is not possible to specify only a part of the data and perform a hex dump. Therefore, a lot of paper and time were wasted.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a controller for a printer device that can solve the above-mentioned conventional rj1 problems and simultaneously perform at least two processes such as hex dumping and processing based on commands from a host device.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention solves the above problem with a controller for a printer device, which is characterized in that a plurality of pointers are provided for an input buffer that stores data from a host device so that the data can be retrieved independently. did.

The present invention also solves the above-mentioned problem with a controller characterized in that, when performing hex dump processing, the command interpreter performs processing according to a predetermined specific command.

At this time, one or both of the start and end of the hex dump process can be determined by a command from the host device.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, data can be independently retrieved from the input buffer using multiple pointers. For example, one can perform hex dump processing and the other can perform command processing using predetermined software, and while performing hex dump processing, data can be retrieved from the host device. It is now possible to respond during This makes it possible to perform debugging and information gathering of complaint files in the market by processing only the necessary parts of the data by hex dumping, making it more efficient.

Also, even during hex dump processing, normal command processing is performed in response to status request commands from the host device, and responses can be made in the same way as for normal printing between the host device and the next step based on the status request response. The operating application software can also take a hex dump of the same data as normal printing.

〔Example) The details of the present invention will be explained based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

Printer device controller (printer controller)
is a host interface (1/
F) has 2. Centronics, RC232C, etc. are representative examples of the host I/F2.

An input buffer 3 is connected to the host device 1/F2 as a RAM for temporarily storing data sent from the host device 1. The input buffer 3 is a FIFO (first in, first out) system in which the data input first is output first, and when the input data reaches the final address of the input variation, the next data input manually is the first address of the input buffer. This is a circular buffer.

A command interpreter 4 is connected to the input buffer 3, reads data from the input buffer,
The data is classified into text data (characters), commands such as control codes such as CRSCF and ESC sequences, and graphic data using binary data for writing graphics, and processing is performed according to each data. In the case of text data, information such as the address of the character font and the active position where the current character should be printed is passed to the page composer 5 connected to the command ink printer 4. executes the action of that command ′.

A hexadata converter 6 is connected to the input buffer 3, and reads data from the input buffer 3 and converts the data into hexadecimal code text data.
For example, the data received from the input buffer is 12H.
(number l, number 2, space), then 31h,
The data is converted into 3 bytes of 32h and 20h, and is passed to the page composer 5 connected to the hex data converter 6 along with information on the address of the font used for hex dumping and the printing position.

The page composer 5 receives information on the address and print position of data to be printed such as fonts and images from the command interpreter 4 and the hex data converter 6, creates a page descriptor, and creates a page to be connected to the page composer 5. Store it in the buffer 11.

A page descriptor consists of the source address of the data to be printed, the destination address of where in the video buffer to write the data, the number of bytes, width, and height of the data to be written, a pointer to the next page descriptor, etc. .

The page buffer 11 writes a page descriptor,
RAM for storing data and a circular buffer.

The video data converter 10 is connected to the page buffer 11, and the video buffer 9 is connected to the video data converter IO.The page descriptor is read from the page buffer 11 to the video data converter 10, and the information of the page descriptor is read out from the page buffer 11 to the video data converter 10. The video buffer 9 is a RAM that stores the image data written by the video data converter IO, and the data is transferred to the engine interface (Engine!/F) by DMA. ) 8 to the printer engine 7.

The engine I/F 8 is a connector that connects the printer engine 7 and the printer controller, and includes a video signal that transfers image data from the controller to the engine, a print signal that commands the start of paper ejection, and a signal that indicates whether the printer engine is ready to print. A printer ready signal for checking the printer engine status, a printer error signal for detecting a printer engine error, etc. are transferred.

The printer engine 7 may be, for example, a laser printer or an LED printer.

At the time of hex dump, in the past, only the flow of signals existed: input buffer -> hex data converter -> page composer -> page buffer 1, and the signal did not pass through the command interpreter, so it was not possible to respond to status request commands. Furthermore, it was not possible to stop the hex dump in the middle of the hex dump using a command. For this reason, one possible method is to pass the data from the input buffer through a command interpreter and a hex data converter, but if there is only one pointer to retrieve data from the input buffer, several bytes of parameters are required depending on the command. This makes software processing complicated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the present invention uses a pointer for extracting data from the input buffer 3, as shown in FIG.
3 can be used to respond to the status request command during hex dumping. The input buffer 3 is connected to the host I/F by the data input pointer 12.
Input data from 2.

The hex data converter 6 is the hex data get pointer 1
1 byte of data is extracted from step 3 and converted into hexadecimal code, for example, based on ASCII. For example, if the data in the input buffer is llb, the 1-byte data 'llh' is converted into 3-byte signals 31b (number 1), 31b (number 1), and 20h (space). Treat character codes the same as text,
The printing position of characters for hex dump is determined and the parameters of the printing position and the address of the character font are output to the page composer 5.

The page composer 5 creates a page descriptor based on this information, and performs a hex dump in the same operation as a normal print sequence.

Command interpretation is also performed in parallel with the operation of creating and printing out pages as a hex dump.

For example, the process of creating a page as a hex dump and the process of extracting data from the input buffer 3 using the command interpreter target pointer 14 and processing it in the command interpreter can be performed alternately.

If the command interpreter 4 performs the same operations as normal during hex dump, it will output print data information to the page composer 5, and the hex dump image and normal data will be overwritten, making it unusable as a hex dump. .

In the present invention, the command ink printer 4 prevents the page composer 5 from performing an output operation such as writing an image on a page during hex dumping.

During hex dump, the command interpreter 4 issues a hex dump end command, status request command,
Only certain commands, such as commands that set parameters that affect status request responses, are run, and other commands are not run.

Further, in the case of a command having a large number of parameters such as a graphics command or a download command, the parameters are taken out from the input buffer 3 by the number of parameters, and the command interpreter target pointer 14 is advanced by the number of data read.

When a command to set a parameter that affects the response to a status request is received, the parameter to be set is rewritten, but if the parameter change results in normal printing, an operation that affects printing and printer operation, such as printing If the orientation is changed, the data I already in the page buffer will be printed out, or if the font is changed, the printed font will be changed. This does not print text using a command interpreter to create a hex dump page.
This is because the hex data conversion unit 6 formats the page using variables such as page format and font, and controls the position of printed characters and paper ejection, independently of the command ink printer.

By alternating the operations of the hex data converter and command interpreter, it is possible to respond to the status request command even during hex dumping, and in response, the same data as when the printer is printing normally is sent. It can be returned to the host device.

For the input buffer 3, a hex data get pointer 13 is provided as a reading pointer for the hex data converter, and a command interpreter target pointer 14 is provided as a reading pointer for the command interpreter.
By providing the command ink printer 4, the command ink printer 4 extracts data from the input buffer 3 for each command, and the hexagonal converter 6 extracts data from the input buffer 3, for example, byte by byte. The time required to respond to a status command from the host device becomes faster, and the command interpreter can process each command individually, so the software does not need to be complicated.

An example of the operation of the command interpreter described above is performed as shown in the flowchart of FIG. In FIG. 3, it is first determined whether it is a hex dump, and if No, it operates as a normal command interpreter, and if YES, it is determined whether it is a hex dump end command.

If it is a hex dump end command, it ends the hex dump.

While the hex dump is continuing, it is determined whether it is a status request command or not, rather than a hex dump end command.
If YES, execute the status request command, if NO, judge whether the command affects the status request or not.0 If the judgment is YES, only the parameters that affect the status request will be changed, but the operation will not be do not. If NO, determine whether it is a command with parameters, if NO, return; if YES, retrieve data from the input buffer for the number of parameters, and use the command interpreter target pointer 14.
Go ahead and read the data.

〔effect〕

According to the present invention, data can be retrieved from the input buffer in parallel using a plurality of pointers, and a plurality of processes, such as hex dump and command processing, can be performed in parallel.

According to the present invention, even during hex dumping, the response to the status request command can be exchanged with the host device in the same way as for normal printing, and the application software that performs the next operation based on the response to the status request can also respond to the normal printing. It is now possible to take a hex dump of the same data.

According to the present invention, it is possible to start and end a hex dump using a command from the host device, and by putting the hex dump start and end commands in the data file, the hex dump start and end positions can be defined, and the necessary It is now possible to take a data-only hex dump, increasing the efficiency of firmware debugging.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a controller of a printer device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory block diagram of an input buffer, and FIG. 3 is an operational flow diagram of a command interpreter. 1... Host device W 3... Input buffer 4... Command interpreter 6... Hex data converter

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a controller of a printer device that has an input buffer that stores data from a host device and prints based on data from the host device, a plurality of pointers independently retrieve data from the input buffer. 1. A controller for a printer device, characterized in that a plurality of processes are performed in parallel using data from an input buffer. (2) The controller of the printer device according to claim 1, wherein when performing hex dump processing using data from the input buffer, the command interpreter performs processing according to only a predetermined specific command. . (3) The controller for a printer device according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the start and end of the hex dump process is determined by a command from a host device.