JPH03132794A - Character generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate an excellent pattern without spoiling the symmetry of a developed pattern while the information amount of a font memory and the time required for the development are reduced by utilizing the symmetry of a font pattern effectively. CONSTITUTION:When font data is inputted from an external device 30, a data analysis is made according to the input font data. Namely, pattern data in the font memory 3 are used to decide whether or not the font corresponding to the input font data has symmetry. Thus, when pattern data is extracted, the vector information part of the pattern data, i.e. vector information on a curve (a) and a straight line (d) is used to generate a dot image pattern shown in a figure A. Then a symmetrical part is composed according to information on symmetry and the font pattern is completed as shown in a figure B.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a character generation device, and more particularly, to a character generation device that generates a character pattern by developing a dot pattern on an image memory.

[Prior Art] Normally, a character generator 51, as shown in FIG.
The code data input from the external device 52 is analyzed by the data analysis section 53. As a result, the developing section 54 has R (not shown).
A pattern is developed as a dot image in the bitmap memory 55 according to the font data stored in the font data storage section 57 on the OM or RAM. This dot image is outputted by the output section 56 to an output device 58 such as a CRT.

In the character generator 51 described above, when the font pattern data is stored in the font data storage unit 57 in the form of an outline font, etc., the entire outline of the pattern consisting of straight lines and curved lines is stored in the form of vector information, etc. It is stored in . The development unit 54 performs approximation calculations to curves etc. based on the information of all the contour parts, converts it into a dot image pattern of arbitrary size, and stores the dot image pattern in the bitmap memory 55.
Expand to.

FIG. 10B shows an example of pattern data stored in the font storage section 57. The pattern shown in FIG. 10A corresponds to the curve 81 curve b shown in FIG. 10B, and vector information representing the entire contour like the straight line C, and these pieces of information are stored as pattern data in the font storage unit. 57.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional example described above, vector information and the like for all contours in a pattern are stored as pattern data. During development, the entire outline is converted into a dot image pattern based on vector information, etc., which has the following drawbacks.

■The amount of information such as vector information stored as font data is large.

Generally, when vector information is developed into a bitmap pattern, approximation to curves, etc. is performed, so a large amount of calculations are performed, and development takes time.

■Even if a figure is originally supposed to be symmetrical, the symmetry may be lost due to calculation errors during expansion.

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the conventional example, the present invention aims to provide a character generation device that can efficiently reduce the amount of information in font data and shorten the time required to develop dot images. It is in the point of doing.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, a character generation device according to the present invention includes a storage means for storing font pattern data including symmetry information in the character generation device. , an input means for inputting font information from the outside, an extraction means for extracting pattern data stored in the storage means based on the input font information, and symmetric information included in the extracted pattern data. [Function] According to this structure, the storage means stores pattern data of fonts including symmetrical information. The input means inputs font information from the outside, the extraction means extracts the pattern data stored in the storage means based on the input font information, and the expansion means extracts the pattern data included in the extracted pattern data. The pattern is developed based on the information, and the output means outputs the developed pattern.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, numeral 1 indicates the character generating device of this embodiment. The character generator 1 inputs font information including font data (normal character code) from the external device 30 and outputs a dot image pattern to the output device 31.
It has the following configuration.

First, 2 indicates an input unit having a buffer for inputting and storing the above-mentioned font information, and 3 indicates a font memory in which font pattern data is stored according to a storage method described later. 4 indicates a CPU that controls the entire water device 1;
Reference numeral 5 indicates a ROM that stores a control program, an error processing program, a program according to a flowchart shown in FIG. It shows.

Reference numeral 7 indicates a bitmap memory that develops the dot image pattern of characters, and 8 indicates an output unit that takes in the data (dot image data) of the dot image pattern developed in the bitmap memory 7 and outputs it to the output device 31. There is.

Next, a method of storing pattern data in this embodiment will be explained.

FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an example of pattern data of a line-symmetric font pattern of this embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a diagram showing a font pattern corresponding to the pattern data of FIG. 2A.

Conventionally, for the font pattern of the letter "A" shown in FIG. 2B, curve a.

It was necessary to store the three vector information of the curved line and the straight line C as pattern data, but in this embodiment, we focused on the symmetry of the font pattern (for example, line symmetry), and the second
As shown in Figure A, vector information for generating curve a and straight line d, and line symmetry with respect to the r3'+-yi axis.
Information indicating the symmetry is stored as pattern data. Curve a in FIG. 2B has a line-symmetric positional relationship with respect to the y+-':J2 axis. Also, the straight line d
Similarly, there is a line-symmetrical positional relationship with the straight line d°, and the straight line d,
A straight line C is formed by d'.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams for explaining an example of development of the font pattern shown in FIG. 2B.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the CPU 4 of this embodiment.

First, when font data is input from the external device 30, data analysis is performed based on the input font data (step SL, step S2). This data analysis is a process of determining from the pattern data in the font memory 3 whether or not the font corresponding to the input font data has symmetry (step S3). Of course, the above analysis includes extraction (search) processing of pattern data corresponding to the input font data in the font memory 3.

As a result of the above extraction process, as shown in FIG. 2A (when pattern data is extracted, the vector information portion of the pattern data, that is, the
The dot image pattern shown in Figure A is created (
Step S5).

Next, from the symmetry information, the symmetrical portions shown by the broken lines in FIG. 3A are synthesized, thereby completing the font pattern as shown in FIG. 3B (step S6). The method of creating the dot image pattern shown in FIG. 3A from the vector information described above is performed by approximating the vector information to a curve as in the conventional example, but the line-symmetric pattern shown by the broken line in FIG. This generation does not require any complicated calculations, and can be achieved by simply performing a line-symmetric copying of the memory contents.

If it is determined in step S3 that the font has no symmetry, a normal dot image pattern is developed in the bitmap memory 7 (step S4).

Above, step S6. The dot image pattern for one character created in each process of step S4 is outputted to the output device 31 as dot image data (step S7).

Now, in the above description, a line-symmetric font pattern was taken as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the present embodiment also includes point-symmetric font patterns.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of pattern data of a point-symmetric font pattern, FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a font pattern corresponding to the pattern data of FIG. 5A, and FIG.
FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating an example of development of the font pattern shown in FIG. 5B.

In the case of this point symmetry, paying attention to the point symmetry of the font pattern shown in FIG. 5B, the curve e shown in FIG.
, vector information of the straight line f and symmetry information that "has point symmetry with respect to point 0" are stored in the font memory 3 as pattern data. At the time of development, the vector information of the curve e and the straight line f is developed into a dot image pattern shown in Fig. 6A, and then a pattern that is symmetrical about point 0 with respect to the pattern above the Xl-X2 axis is created. By creating the dot image pattern shown in FIG. 6B, the dot image pattern shown in FIG. 6B can be created.

Furthermore, this embodiment includes not only a pattern that is entirely symmetrical but also a font pattern that is partially symmetrical.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an example of pattern data of a font pattern having partial symmetry, FIG. 7B is a diagram showing a font pattern corresponding to the pattern data of FIG. 7A,
FIGS. 8A and 8B are diagrams for explaining an example of development of the font pattern as shown in FIG. 7B.

In this partially symmetrical case, the pattern data corresponding to the font pattern shown in FIG. 7B becomes the vector information shown in FIG. 7A. In particular, the data include the curve i and the straight line. k is required at the minimum, and the symmetry information is ``line symmetry with respect to the r3/5-yn axis of the curve i''.

Now, at the time of expansion, symmetrical vector information is first expanded as shown in Figure 8A, and then symmetrical vector information is expanded with only the symmetrical dotted line portion (corresponding to curve i in Figure 7B) being symmetrical. A pattern is created. In this way,
The dot image data shown in FIG. 8B is expanded into the bitmap memory 3.

As explained above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to effectively utilize the symmetry of font patterns to reduce the amount of information in the font memory and the time required for expansion, while also being able to reduce the amount of information in the font memory and the time required for expansion without impairing the symmetry of the expanded pattern. can generate patterns.

Now, in the above-described embodiment, the symmetry partitioning area is divided into four, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the number of partitioning areas is four depending on the symmetrical part in the font pattern. The line of symmetry may be less than or greater than or equal to the y-axis. Furthermore, instead of providing the line of symmetry in the y-axis or the direction of the y-axis, the line of symmetry may be set in an oblique direction.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, by effectively utilizing the symmetry of font patterns, it is possible to reduce the amount of information in the font memory and the time it takes to develop the font, and to improve the efficiency of the developed pattern. A good pattern can be generated without compromising symmetry.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an example of pattern data of a line-symmetric font pattern of this embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a diagram showing the pattern data of FIG. 2A. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating an example of development of the font pattern shown in FIG. 2B. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the CPU 4 of this embodiment. The figure shows an example of pattern data of a point-symmetric font pattern, Figure 5B shows a font pattern corresponding to the pattern data of Figure 5A, and Figures 6A and 6B show the font shown in Figure 5B. 7A is a diagram illustrating an example of pattern data of a partially symmetrical font pattern; FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating a font pattern corresponding to the pattern data in FIG. 7A; 8A and 8B are diagrams for explaining an example of development of a font pattern as shown in FIG. 7B, FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a conventional example, and FIGS. 10A and 10B are conventional FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a method of storing pattern data. In the figure, 1, 51...Character generator, 2...Input unit,
3... Font memory, 4... CPU, 5... R
OM, 6...RAM, 7.55...Bitmap memory, 8.56...Output section, 30.52...External device, 31.58...Output device, 53...Data Analysis section, 54... development section, 57... font data storage section. Candy 2B day 3A figure 3B section 8Δ figure every 8B mouth

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a character generator, a storage means for storing font pattern data including symmetry information, an input means for inputting font information from the outside, and a font data stored in the storage means based on the input font information. The present invention is characterized by comprising: an extracting means for extracting pattern data contained in the pattern data; a developing means for developing a pattern based on symmetry information included in the extracted pattern data; and an output means for outputting the developed pattern. Character generator. (2) The character generating device according to claim 1, wherein, in the case of a font having symmetry at least in part, the storage means stores only pattern data of one of the symmetrical patterns. (3) The developing means performs pattern development for one character based on pattern data of a font having symmetry stored in the storage means and the symmetry information. character generator.