JPH02209267A - Printing controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need for a reset of an interrupt timing by providing a process part conducting an interrupt processing by receiving an interrupt signal outputted from a vertical control buffer at an interrupt generation timing and a feed check interrupt signal from a feed check interrupt generation part. CONSTITUTION:Two bit map memories 26 are provided, and an interrupt timing and an interrupt factor are preset by a program of a process part 18 in a vertical control buffer 16 and a feed check interrupt generation part 27. During a printing of one page, an interrupt factor '1' is informed from an output part 15 to the process part 18 at a timing 23. The process part 18 calculates, for example, a printing position for a next page by receiving the interrupt factor '1'. At a fixed timing 29 for a perforation line 21, a feed check interrupt signal is informed from the feed check interrupt generation part 27 to the process part 18. At this time, the process part 18 applies an error check to a printer device 17. If an error exists, the process part 18 cancels the printing of the appropriate page and performs an error indication.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a device for controlling printing in a printing device such as a printer device.

[Prior Art] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional printing control device.
In the figure, 11 is a host computer that sends print data, 12 is a page buffer that stores at least one page of print data sent from the host computer 11, and 13 is a page buffer that stores character patterns, and print data from the page buffer 12 is converted into character patterns. 14 is a line pit buffer that stores only one line of character patterns converted by this font memory 13, and 15A is a printer device i that stores one line of print data stored in this line pit buffer 14. ! (External printing device @) An output unit 16A is provided in this output unit 15 to output to the output unit 17. A vertical direction control buffer 18A is provided in which the interrupt generation timing and interrupt factor during one page printing are set arbitrarily in advance by a program. This vertical control buffer 16
19A is a processing unit that receives an interrupt signal output from A at the interrupt generation timing and executes interrupt processing according to the interrupt factor; Line pit buffer 14. Output section 15
A, a print control device consisting of a vertical direction control buffer 16A and a processing section 18A.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the specific operation of the conventional apparatus described above, and in the figure, 20 is printing paper;
1 is a perforation for cutting this printing paper 20 page by page, and 22 is a printing range within one page.

Next, the operation will be explained. Print data sent from the host computer 11 is stored in the page buffer 12, and when one or more pages have been stored, the print data is transferred to the page buffer 1.
2, converted into a character pattern in the font memory 13, and then stored in the line pit buffer 14 for one line. And this line pit buffer 1
The print data is read from 4 and sent from the output section 15A to the printer device 17 to print one line. The above-described operation is repeated for one rental car to print one page.

While this one page is being printed, it is necessary to perform error processing for that page and control the printing of the next page.

This process is performed as an interrupt process as follows, and this will be explained using FIG. 4. In the vertical direction control buffer 16A, interrupt timing and interrupt factors are set in advance by a program of the processing section 18A. The vertical direction control buffer 16A is configured such that the address is incremented by one each time the printing position in one page advances by one dot.

For example, as illustrated in FIG.
u , rr 2 jj , 113 It are set. These interrupt timings and interrupt factors are arbitrarily set by the program of the processing unit 18A.

Then, by the vertical direction control buffer 16A in which such interrupt data is set, the interrupt cause rt I Hl is notified from the output section 15A to the processing section 18A at timing 23 during printing of one page, and this processing section 18A handles the interrupt. For example, the print position of the next page is calculated based on the factor II I It. Next, when the position of timing 24 is reached, the interrupt factor II 211 is notified to the processing unit 18A, and at this time, the processing unit 18A performs, for example, an error check on the printer device 17, and if an error is found, cancels printing of the page. While displaying an error and notifying the host computer 11 of the error, if there is no error, interrupt processing such as counting up the number of printed pages is executed.

Furthermore, when the position of timing 25 is reached, the interrupt factor "3" is notified to the processing section 18A, and at this time, the processing section 18A is notified of the interrupt factor "3".
For example, A determines whether to continue printing. That is, if print data of the fifth page is stored in the page buffer 12, an interrupt process is executed to continue printing.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Since the conventional printing control device is configured as described above, the vertical direction I! is changed every time the relative position of the printing paper 2o changes. J
There were problems such as the need to reset the interrupt timing of the control buffer 16A, and also the need to reset the timing 24 for error checking of the printer device 17 whose relative position with respect to the printing paper 20 does not change. .

This invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it changes the interrupt timing according to the change in the relative position of the printing range with respect to the printing paper, and fixes the error check of the printer device with respect to the printing paper. It is an object of the present invention to provide a printing control device which can be executed at a specific position and does not require resetting of interrupt timing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A print control device according to the present invention includes a page buffer that stores at least one page of print data sent from a host computer, and a page buffer that stores character patterns and converts print data from the page buffer into characters. a font memory for converting into a pattern; a plurality of bitmap memories for storing one page of character patterns converted by the font memory;
Equipped with an output unit that sequentially outputs one page of print data stored in each of the bitmap memories mentioned above to an external printing device, the interrupt generation timing and interrupt cause for print data during one page printing can be arbitrarily set in advance. Vertical direction control buffer that can be set, error checking for the above external printing device, and transportation that generates a transportation check interrupt signal at a fixed timing for printing paper to determine and notify whether to continue or stop printing operations. A check interrupt generation section is provided in the output section, and
A processing section is provided for receiving an interrupt signal output from the vertical direction control buffer at the interrupt generation timing and a transport check interrupt signal from the transport check interrupt generating section and executing interrupt processing.

[Function] In the print control device according to the present invention, interrupt processing related to print data (for example, calculation of the number of print pages, control of print position, etc.) is performed at the interrupt generation timing by the vertical direction control buffer, while an external printing device Interrupt processing such as error checking and determining whether to continue or stop printing operations is performed at fixed interrupt timing for printing paper from the conveyance check interrupt generating section.

[Embodiment of the Invention] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1st
The figure is a block diagram showing a printing control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the specific operation of this embodiment. Since the same parts are shown, their explanation will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, 15 is a bitmap memory 2 which will be described later.
An output section 6 outputs one page worth of print data stored in the printer device (external printing device) 17, and 16 is provided in the output section 15 to determine interrupt generation timing for print data during printing of one page according to a program. and a vertical control buffer in which interrupt factors can be arbitrarily set in advance.

A processing unit 18 receives an interrupt signal outputted from the vertical direction control buffer 16 at an interrupt generation timing and a transport check interrupt signal from a transport check interrupt generating unit 27, which will be described later, and executes interrupt processing.

Further, 26 and 26 are two bitmap memories that store one page worth of character patterns converted by the font memory 13, and each bitmap memory 26 stores a series of print data alternately for each page. be. 2
Reference numeral 7 indicates a fixed timing (second This transport check interrupt generating section 27 is provided in the output section 15 together with the vertical direction control buffer 16.

In this embodiment, the page buffer 12.degree. font memory 13. Output section 15. Vertical control buffer 16.
Processing unit 18. The bitmap memory 26 and the transport check interrupt generating section 27 constitute the print control device 19.

In addition, in FIG. 2, 28 is the vertical direction control buffer 1.
6 is set to the occurrence timing of interrupt factor "4" to determine whether or not the next page's print data is prepared in the bitmap memory 26. 29 is set to a fixed position from the perforation 21 and is conveyed. This is the timing to generate a check interrupt signal.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of this embodiment will be explained.

Print data sent from the host computer 11 is stored in the page buffer 12, and when one or more pages have been stored, it is read out from the page buffer 12, converted into a character pattern in the font memory 13, and then Only one page is stored in the bitmap memory 26 of the page. Then, print data is read from the bitmap memory 26 and sent from the output section 15 to the printer device 17 to print one page.

In this embodiment, as described above, two bitmap memories 26 are provided, and while one page is being printed, the other bitmap memory 26 from which print data is not being read is used to print the next page. The data is now stored. Then, the other bitmap memory 2
If the print data is stored in bitmap memory 26, the next page will be printed immediately after the print data in one bitmap memory 26 is printed. Continuous printing over a plurality of pages is performed by repeating the above operations.

By the way, while one page is being printed, it is necessary to perform error processing for that page, control the printing of the next page, etc., and this will be explained using FIG. 2.

In the vertical direction control buffer 16 and the transport check interrupt generation section 27, interrupt timing and interrupt factors are set in advance by a program of the processing section 18. The vertical direction control buffer 16 is configured such that the address is incremented by one each time the print position within one page shown in the print range 22 advances by one dot. Further, the conveyance check interrupt generation unit 27
Error check for 7 is enabled and perforation 2
The setting is such that an interrupt signal can be generated at a timing that allows printing to be stopped in step 1.

In this example, as shown in FIG. In this example, a conveyance check interrupt is set at timing 29.

Then, according to the interrupt data set with such interrupt data, the interrupt factor "1" is notified from the output section 15 to the processing section 18 at timing 23 while one page is being printed, and the processing section 18 sets the interrupt factor "1" to the processing section 18. For example, the print position of the next page is calculated using 1.

Next, when the position of timing 28 is reached, 1 interrupt factor u 4 II is notified to the processing unit 18, and at this time, the processing unit 18 counts up the number of printed pages and indicates that the next page is ready in the other bitmap memory 26. Make a judgment as to whether or not there is one.

Furthermore, a fixed timing 29 with respect to the perforation 21 is provided.
When the transport check interrupt signal is reached, the transport check interrupt generation unit 27 notifies the processing unit 18. At this time, the processing unit 18 performs an error check on the printer device 17, and if there is an error, cancels printing of the page. While displaying an error and notifying the host computer 11 of the error, if there is no error, it is determined whether or not to continue printing in accordance with the next page preparation determination at timing 58.

As described above, according to the apparatus of this embodiment, interrupt processing regarding print data is performed at the interrupt generation timing by the vertical direction control buffer 16, while the printer device 17
Error checking for.

Interrupt processing such as determining whether to continue or stop the printing operation is performed on the printing paper 20 from the conveyance check interrupt generation unit 27 at a fixed interrupt timing, so that the printing paper 2
There is no need to reset the interrupt timing even if the relative position of the printing range with respect to 0 changes. The precision of mechanical operations such as error checking for perforations 21 and continuing or stopping printing operations is increased, and the independence of processing in software production for corresponding interrupt processing is increased.

Note that in the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 16 and conveyance check interrupt generation section 2
7 are independent of each other, and the printing range 22.7 for the perforation 21 is independent of each other. The position of the vertical direction control buffer 16 is arbitrary.

Further, in the above embodiment, a case has been described in which two bitmap memories 26 are provided, but the present invention is not limited to this.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the print data is sent to the printer device 1.
7 is shown, but in the case of facsimile, etc., the same effect as in the above embodiment can be achieved by processing the transmitted and received data in the vertical direction control buffer 16 and processing the output device by using the transport check interrupt. .

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, interrupt processing related to print data is performed at the interrupt generation timing by the vertical direction control buffer, while interrupt processing for error checking of the printer device, determination of whether to continue or stop printing operation, etc. Since the processing is configured to be performed at a fixed interrupt timing for printing paper from the conveyance check interrupt generation unit,
In addition to eliminating the need to reset the interrupt timing even if the relative position of the printing range with respect to the printing paper changes, error checking for the printing device and mechanical operations for continuing or stopping printing operations become more accurate, and the corresponding interrupt processing becomes more accurate. This has the effect of increasing processing independence in software production.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a printing control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram for explaining the specific operation of the above embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional printing control device. , FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the specific operation of the conventional device. In the figure, 11...-host computer, 12...-page buffer, 13--font memory, 15...-output section, 16...-vertical direction control buffer, 17...-printer device (external printing device), 18 - processing section, 19
--- Printing control device, 26- Pidmap memory, 27
- Conveyance check interrupt, generation part. In addition, in the figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A print control device that controls printing of data sent from a host computer includes a page buffer that stores at least one page of print data sent from the host computer, and a page buffer that stores character patterns and prints the print data from the page buffer into character patterns. font memory to convert to,
a plurality of bitmap memories that store one page's worth of character patterns converted by the same font memory; and an output section that sequentially outputs one page's worth of print data stored in each bitmap memory to an external printing device. Equipped with
A vertical direction control buffer that allows interrupt generation timing and interrupt factors for print data during one page printing to be arbitrarily set in advance, error checking for the external printing device, and determination of whether to continue or stop printing operations.
The output section is provided with a conveyance check interrupt generation section that generates a conveyance check interrupt signal for notification at a fixed timing with respect to the printing paper, and the conveyance check interrupt signal is outputted from the vertical direction control buffer at the interrupt generation timing. 1. A printing control device comprising: a processing section that receives an interrupt signal from the transport check interrupt signal and a transport check interrupt signal from the transport check interrupt generating section and executes an interrupt process.