JPH02164562A - Character processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To output a large character regardless of the capacity of memory by extracting data multiplied by magnification/reduction factor as required then converting the extracted data from vector form to dot form. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 1 reads out character data stored in a RAM 3 in vector form then the character data is subjected to conversion by multiplying a magnification/reduction factor obtained from the density of an output device such as a printer or a CRT 7, the size of a specified character string and the original magnitude of data stored in vector form. Then information at the starting point of profile and the end point is extracted for the entire character string thus converting the data vector form to dot form and smearing away the inside of the profile. By such arrangement, a larger character can be outputted regardless of the memory capacity and the waiting time can be shortened.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a character processing device having a function of converting characters encoded in vector format into dot format.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, when converting vector format data to dot format data, if it was one character, the data was converted to dot format in memory at one time.

However, if the memory was limited, vector format data that exceeded the matrix of memory E could not be converted to dot format.

In addition, for output devices that print one line at a time, such as a thermal transfer printer, the entire character must be converted to dot format before outputting, so there is no waiting time before outputting to the printer. There was a problem that there were too many.

[Objective] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention aims to
The line memory is used as working memory to convert vector format data to dot format data,
The object of the present invention is to provide a character processing device that requires a small memory capacity by extracting vector format data related to the area and then converting the data into dot format on the memory.

The purpose of the present invention is to make it possible to output larger characters regardless of memory capacity, and to convert vector format data of each character little by little without first converting it to dot format. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a character processing device that can minimize waiting time.

[Example code] Next, examples of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of a word processor according to the present invention. In Figure 1, 1 is CP
62 is a ROM, ie, a read-only memory, which is a storage area for system startup programs, character patterns, data, and the like. 3 is RAM, that is, random access memory, which is a data storage area with no usage restrictions, and various 9I! ! This is an area where each program and data are loaded and executed every time the program is executed. 4
is a KBC or keyboard control unit, which receives key manual data from the 5 KB or keyboard and transmits it to the CPUI. 6 is a CRTC, that is, a display control unit; 7
is a CRT, that is, a display device, which receives and displays data from the CRTC of 6. Reference numeral 8 denotes an external storage device such as an FD (floppy disk device) or an HD (hard disk device), in which programs and data are stored and referenced or loaded into RAM as needed during execution. Reference numeral 9 denotes a DKC, that is, a disk control section, which controls data transmission and the like. Reference numeral 10 denotes a system bus, which serves as a data path between the above-mentioned components.

The operation of this embodiment having the above configuration will be explained using the flowcharts of FIGS. 2 to 6 and 7 as examples.

FIG. 2 shows an example of vector-format characters to be output in step 1 of FIG. 7, and the upper left of the square type j is assumed to be the origin pressure J'RCO10). Then, a request to output a dot pattern is received line by line from a line output type printer. In other words, the band width from the pan 1 start to the pan end is the dot pattern output request area from the printer, and points related to this output request area are to be extracted. As shown in Fig. 3, the points related to the output area are: ■ A point between the band start and the band end and both points, or ■ The Y coordinate of a point is the band star I.・The two points are smaller than the band end and the point next to it is larger than the band end.

Then, information on the outline start point and end point of these points is extracted for the entire character, and the extracted points are stored in the outline table of the X and Y coordinates as shown in Figure 4, which corresponds to Step 2 in Figure 7. Store. However, when storing
If there is no connection between the data stored in the table (for example, point C and point d in Fig. 5(C), that is, C (C11, Cy) and d (d,, ciy) in the contour table), there is no connection between the data stored in the table. An impossible value (FFFF) indicating that there is no connection is stored.

Then, based on the information of the contour table obtained in Fig. 4,
In step 3 of FIG. 7, the inside of the outline is filled in using the method shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, first, two coordinates are sequentially extracted from the contour table in FIG. In Figure 5 (a), a (ax, ay) and b (b,, by)
If the coordinate is smaller than the Y coordinate of the punt start, no processing is performed, and if it is within the band, the end of the character area calculated in advance from the character size is reversed with NOT. and paint it. In addition, in Fig. 5(b), b (bx, b,) and c<cx, cy
> is painted in the same way, but if it is larger than the Y coordinate of the band, no processing is performed. Next, C (CX, Cy) and (FFFF, FFFF) are extracted as coordinate data, but since FFFF means a break in the data as explained above, no processing is performed here and the data is Advancing the pointer, the next coordinate data d (dx, d,) and e (e.

ey). From those two coordinates, Figure 5 (C
), fill in the area from the coordinates related to the inside of the band to the end of the area while inverting with NOT. When the data stored in the contour table reaches the end in this way, the data painting process for one font has been completed.

As a precaution when painting as described above, the process shown in FIG. 6 must be performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 6(a), when the Y coordinate directions of two tree line segments are the same, processing is performed for line segment a up to b, and for line segment b y+1. Process from there. Further, in FIG. 6(b), the processing is performed up to the by point for the line segment a, and from the by point for the line segment a. By performing such processing, uneven coating is eliminated.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiments, the case where all the data in vector format is a straight line has been described, but in reality, the data in vector format may be a straight line or a curve.

To distinguish between straight line and curved data, curve start and curve end information is added to each coordinate data. In other words, the coordinate points from the curve start to the curve end are data indicating a curve, and the other coordinate points are data indicating a straight line.

Therefore, here, the flowcharts of FIGS. 8 and 9 will be explained as examples while comparing with the embodiment in which only the linear data is used.

When the coordinate data at both ends of the data related to the band extracted in FIG. 2 are between the curve start and the curve end, that is, in the middle of the curve, all the curve data must be extracted. Therefore, by expanding the range from the data extracted up to the points at both ends of the points within the band, in steps 2 and 3 of Fig. 9, the data is extracted from the curve start or the curve end as shown in Fig. 8. Extract the data up to the point as data related to the band.

In steps 4 and 5 of FIG. 9, if the data is a straight line, the process proceeds to step 4 and the data is stored in the contour table of FIG. After converting to straight line data, processing is performed to store it in the contour table.

After the coordinate data is stored as straight line data in the contour table, the process explained in FIG. 5 is performed to fill in the contour.

[Other Embodiments] In the above embodiments, claim 1 has been described, but claim 2 will be described here. All data stored in vector format is 256x256
It consists of a fixed coordinate system such as a dot. Therefore, if you want to output the desired character size, it is necessary to change the size of the coordinate system by applying an enlargement or reduction ratio to the stored data. However, when considering output devices, there are various output devices with different densities, such as thermal transfer printers, laser beam printers, wire dot printers, and CRTs. Therefore, in order to output at a desired size to each of these output devices having different densities, it is necessary to have the density of the output device as an internal parameter and to determine the enlargement or reduction ratio according to that parameter.

The process will be explained below based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an overall flowchart of the vector font generator, and when a data output request is received from an output device, the output device's density, specified character string, specified magnification, etc. are also passed at the same time. Then, in step 1, the enlargement/reduction ratio and bandwidth are determined from the density of the output device.

The enlargement/reduction ratio is determined by the density of the output device (DPI: Dot P
ar Inch) and the size of the specified character string (Paint
) and the original size (MS: MasterSize) of data stored in vector format using the following equation.

Furthermore, regarding the bandwidth, since it is the width that allows the output device to output data at one time, it can be determined by the following formula.

Bandwidth=DPIXα (α is a constant) Then, in step 2, the read data is multiplied by the enlargement/reduction ratio and data for the specified number of characters is stored in the memory.

Then, in steps 3 to 5, as described in the above embodiment, only the points related to the band for one character are extracted, and if there is curve data, it is converted to straight line data and stored.
Filling inside the contour based on the stored point coordinates,
Do this.

Then, in step 6, it is determined whether the specified character string is the end, and if it is the end, the process is terminated, and if not, the next character is taken out from the buffer and the processes in steps 3 to 5 are performed.

In this way, Motosuzu is a line-output printer such as a thermal transfer printer that has a memory for at least one line, making it possible to output large patterns at high speed. .

[Effects] As described in detail above, the present invention makes it possible to output characters such as J, regardless of memory capacity. It became possible to provide processing equipment.

[Brief explanation of the drawings] - Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the present invention - Figure 2 is an example of vector format characters - Figure 3 is an example of extracting related points from bunt Figure 4 is
Contour table information - Figure 5 is an example of filling inside the outline - Figure 6 is special processing when filling - Figure 7 is a flowchart for generating vector fonts for straight line data only - Figure 8 is curve data An example of extracting related points from a band when data is included. ・Figure 9 is a vector font generation flowchart when 1111 line data is included. ・Figure 10 is a vector font generation process that adds processing to change internal parameter values depending on the output device. Flowchart 1 is CPU, 2 is ROM, and 3 is RAM.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A method for reading data stored in a vector format, converting the data by applying an enlargement/reduction ratio to the read data, and converting the converted data to a dot format, A character processing device comprising means for extracting the converted data as necessary, and a device for converting the extracted data from a vector format to a dot format. 2. The character processing device according to claim 1, wherein the scaling ratio and, if necessary, the extraction described in claim 1 are variable depending on an output device such as a printer or a display.