JPH0314070A - External character control system of output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control the registration and deletion of external characters with the simple constitution of only a registration table by moving the character code and character pattern of registration information on an external character which is registered last to free areas of a registration table and a character pattern memory obtained by external character deletion every time an external character is deleted. CONSTITUTION:When one external character is deleted, the character code of the registration information which is registered last is moved to the character code area in the registration table 12 where the deleted registration information is stored and the character pattern indicated by the character pattern storage address of the registration information on the deleted external character is moved to the area on the character pattern memory which is indicated by the character pattern storage address of the registration information on the deleted external character. Then registration information on a new external character is registered at the tail of the registration table 12 and its character pattern is registered at the tail of the character pattern memory. Consequently, it is not necessary to provided another table for controlling whether or not there is a garbage free area on the character pattern memory and the registration and deletion of external characters are controlled with the simple constitution of only the registration table 12.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding the external character management method for managing the registration and deletion of external characters in an output device such as a printing device equipped with internal characters and external characters, the procedure and configuration of the external character registration and deletion process are simplified. A registration system that manages registration information including a character pattern memory that stores character patterns of internal characters and external characters, and character codes and addresses on the character pattern memory for the character patterns. In the external character management method of an output device equipped with a table, when one external character is deleted, the character code of the last registered registration information is stored in the character code area of the registration table where the registration information of the deleted external character was stored. and moves the character pattern indicated by the character pattern storage address of the registration information of the deleted non-standard character to an area on the character pattern memory indicated by the character pattern storage address of the registration information of the deleted non-standard character,
For new external characters, the registration information for the external characters in the registration table is
The registration information is registered, and the character pattern is configured such that the external character on the character pattern memory is stored in the character pattern storage area.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an external character management system for managing the registration and deletion of internal characters for constant use in an output device such as a printing device and external characters that are temporarily used and may be deleted after use.

[Conventional technology]

The characters that a printing device uses for printing are generally equipped with internal characters that are permanently registered in the device and are used all the time, and external characters that are temporarily registered and deleted after use. ing. External characters are transferred from a higher-level host and registered in the printing device as needed, and are deleted at any time when they are no longer needed after use.

The private character management system performs processing related to registration and deletion of such private characters, and the conventional private character management system will be explained below with reference to FIG. 5.

In FIG. 5, numeral 21 is a character pattern memory having a bitmap memory structure, in which character patterns corresponding to each character code of a non-standard character are stored in the form of dot images. 211° to 211n are areas where each character pattern is stored,
A white area 211 shown in the center is an empty area (hereinafter referred to as a moth-eaten empty area) created by erasing external characters. Reference numeral 212 indicates a remaining free area in which no character pattern is stored. Note that there are generally multiple moth-eaten vacant areas.

A registration table 22 stores registration information (1) to (n) in which the character code of each registered character and the character pattern storage address on the character pattern memory for that character pattern are paired. The four-digit number (aOao), etc. in each character code area shows an example of the character code.

Registration information (k) is registration information for the moth-eaten free area 211, and when the character code is (0), it indicates that it is a free area. That is, when a private character is deleted and the area becomes a free area, the character code of the corresponding registration information is cleared to (0).

The SP is the next area registered last (area 21 indicated by the broken line).
This is a pointer indicating the position of 1, , etc.

In this configuration, when a non-standard character is sent from a higher-level host (not shown), the non-standard character is registered according to the following procedure.

■ First, search from the top of the registration table 22,
Check the free space whose character code is (0), that is, the moth-eaten free space.

■ When a free space is detected, register new external character registration information in the free space. In this case, since the address of the character pattern does not change, the character code of the new non-standard character is registered in the character code area. Subsequently, a new non-standard character character pattern is developed in the empty area (moth-eaten empty area) on the character pattern memory 21 indicated by the character pattern storage address of the registration information.

In the case of FIG. 5, the area of registration information 21.1 (k) is detected as a free area, and the registration information of a new non-standard character is registered. Then, the character pattern of the new non-standard character is developed and stored in the moth-eaten empty area 211k of the character pattern memory 21.

■ If no moth-eaten free area is detected, the area pointed to by pointer SP of the registration table, that is, the external character, is the area next to the character pattern storage area (the area indicated by the broken line).
211. . Registered as 1.

Next, when deleting a registered custom character, the upper host sends the character code of the custom character to be deleted.

The printing device searches the registration table 22 and clears the character code of the registration information that is the same as this character code to (0). Further, the character pattern in the area on the character pattern memory 21 indicated by the character pattern storage address of this deletion registration information is cleared.

In the manner described above, registration and deletion processing for external characters is performed at any time according to instructions from the host.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional custom character management system, when a custom character is deleted, a moth-eaten free space is created in the character pattern memory, so when registering a new custom character, the registration table is used to remove the moth-eaten free space in the character pattern memory. It searches for the presence or absence of an area, and if there is a moth-eaten free area, the registration information for a new external character is set in that area, and if there is not, it is registered as normal registration, that is, in the area following the last registration. .

In this way, in the conventional custom character management system, when registering a new custom character, a search is always performed using the registration table to see if there is a moth-eaten free space in the character pattern memory, making the registration procedure complicated and time-consuming. There was a problem.

In order to solve this problem, there is a non-standard character management method that provides a table separate from the registration table that manages only the presence or absence of moth-eaten free areas.

However, this management method requires two management tables, it is necessary to refer to the two management tables, and it is necessary to update the contents of the management table of the moth-eaten free space every time a non-standard character is deleted. Due to the fact that there is
There was a problem that the processing procedure was not simplified and the configuration of the device became large.

The present invention is an improved printing method that simplifies the procedure for registering and deleting external characters to make the process more efficient, and also simplifies the configuration of the device by eliminating the need to manage free space in the registration table. The purpose is to provide a system for managing external characters for output devices such as devices.

[Means to solve the problem]

The means adopted by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems are as follows:
This will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a principle diagram of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 11 is a character pattern memory, in which character patterns corresponding to each character code of a non-standard character are stored in the form of dot images. 111° to 111n are areas in which each character pattern is stored, and the blank area 111 shown in the upper right portion is an empty area created by erasing external characters, that is, a moth-eaten empty area. Reference numeral 112 indicates a remaining free area in which no character pattern is stored.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a registration table, which stores registration information (1) to (n) in which the character code of each registered character is paired with the character pattern storage address on the character pattern memory for that character pattern. The four-digit number (aoao), etc. in each character code area shows an example of the character code.

Registration information (b) is registration information for the moth-eaten free area 211, and when the character code is (0), it indicates that it is a free area. That is, when a private character is deleted and the area becomes a free area, the character code of the corresponding registration information is cleared to (0).

The registration information is registered in the registration table 12 from top to bottom in the order of registration, and is stored in the character pattern memory 11.
In the above example, it is assumed that the character pattern is developed sequentially from the upper left to the lower right.

Using the character pattern memory 11 and registration table 12 described above, the external character management system of an output device such as a printing device according to the present invention is configured as follows.

That is, a character pattern memory (11) stores the character pattern of each character in the form of a dot image, divided into internal characters for constant use and external characters that are used temporarily and may be deleted after use; In a character management method for an output device that includes a registration table (12) that manages registration information including a character code and an address in the character pattern memory (11) for that character pattern, (a) one non-standard character is deleted; (b) a processing step of moving the character code of the registered information registered in the registration table to the character code area of the registration table (12) in which the registered information of the deleted external character was stored; (b) registration of the deleted external character; a processing step of moving the character pattern indicated by the character pattern storage address of the registration information to an area on the character pattern memory (11) indicated by the character pattern storage address of the information; (C) registering the new external character; A processing step of registering the registration information for the private characters in the information registration table (12), and storing the character pattern storage area for the private characters in the character pattern memory (11), for the character patterns thereof. be done.

[For production]

When a higher-level host (not shown) instructs you to delete external characters,
Considering that the areas of the registration table 12 and character pattern memory 11 corresponding to the character code are now empty areas, the deletion and registration process of a non-standard character in the non-standard character management system of the present invention is performed according to the following procedure. The registered information of the deleted non-standard character is registration information (2), the corresponding area (moth-eaten free area) on the character pattern memory If is area 111, and the last registered non-standard character (let be Q)
It is assumed that the registration information is registration information (n), and the corresponding area on the character pattern memory 11 is an area 111n.

■ When a non-illustrated external character is instructed to be deleted from a higher-level host, the printing device writes the character code area of the area in the registration table 12 in which the registration information (2) of the non-standard character to be deleted is stored, and finally writes it to the registration table 12. The character code (1,4a 5 ) of the registration information (n) of the registered external character Q is moved and registered (see FIGS. 1(A) and (B)).

■ The registered character (n) of the deleted external character is stored in the moth-eaten free area 111k on the character pattern memory 11 indicated by the character pattern storage address of the registration information (g) of the deleted external character.
Move and expand the character pattern of the external character Q indicated by (
(See Figures 1 (C) and (D)).

With the above processing, the external character Q is added to the area where the registration information board) was located.
The character code of registration information (n) is moved, and the character pattern of the non-standard character Q in the area 111n is moved to the area 111k where the character pattern of the deleted non-standard character was. therefore,
The registration information of the external character Q in the registration table 12 (the area where nl was located and the area 111n where the character pattern of the external character Q on the character pattern memory ll was located are shown in FIGS. 1(B) and (C).
As shown in the figure, both become empty areas. However, there is no free space in other areas of the registration table 12 and character pattern memory 11.

■ After that, when there is an instruction to register a new non-standard character from the upper host, the registration information is registered in registration table 12. The non-standard character is registered in that area, that is, the area where the original registration information (n) was, and the character pattern is The external character in the character pattern memory 11 is developed in its area, that is, the area 111n where the original character pattern of the external character Q was located.

In the same way, whenever there is an instruction to delete a private character from the host, the deletion processing of (2) and (2) is immediately performed, and when there is an instruction to register a new private character, the registration processing of (2) is performed.

Note that in the erasure processing (1) and (2), the processing order of (1) and (2) may be reversed, and the erasure processing may be performed in the order of (2) - (2).

As described above, each time a custom character is deleted, the character code and its character pattern of the registration information of the last registered custom character are moved to the resulting free space in the registration table and character pattern memory. There is no need to provide a separate table for managing the presence or absence of moth-eaten free space on the character pattern memory, and registration and deletion of external characters can be managed with a simple configuration of only the registration table.

Also, when registering a new custom character, there is no need to search for the presence or absence of moth-eaten free space on the character pattern memory, and the registration information and character pattern of the custom character in the registration table and character pattern memory are immediately registered and developed in that area. Therefore, the registration process for new external characters can be performed easily and efficiently. This makes it possible to simplify the entire non-standard character management processing procedure, and to improve the overall non-standard character management processing efficiency.

[Example] An example of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3A to 3D, and 4. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a printing device used in carrying out an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3A to 3D.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of the non-standard character deletion/registration processing method in the same embodiment.
The figure is a processing flowchart of the same embodiment.

(A) Configuration of Printing Apparatus In FIG. 2, the character pattern memory 11 and registration table 12 are the same as described in FIG. 1.

13 is a drawing processor, 14 is a bitmap memory, 1
5 is a printer controller, 16 is a printer, 17 is a main processor, 18 is a control memory, 19 is a DMA
It is a controller.

The drawing processor 13 performs a process of developing each character pattern of a document to be printed on the printer 16 onto the bitmap memory 14.

The printer controller 15 has a bitmap memory 14.
A process of reading out each character pattern of the document developed above and printing it on the printer 16, a process of character pattern development/movement at the time of deletion/registration of external characters, etc. are performed.

The control memory 18 is provided with a registration table 12, a control program for the main processor 17, a buffer for drawing processing by the drawing controller 13 (none of which are shown), and the like.

The DMA controller 19 controls direct data transfer between the drawing processor 13 and character pattern memory 12 and the control memory 18, and direct data transfer between each memory within the control memory 18.

The main processor 17 manages and controls the operations of each section within the printing apparatus and the overall printing operation.

(B) Operation of Embodiment The operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3D and FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 3A to 3D, SP is a pointer indicating the location of the area where registration information for the next character pattern requested for registration is stored.

SPe is a pointer indicating the position of a moth-eaten empty area on the character pattern memory 11 caused by deletion of a non-standard character. SP' indicates the position of the pointer SP to be moved by the deletion process of the private characters. The other contents are as explained in FIG. 1.

Further, 4'[D (A) shows a processing flowchart when a custom character is deleted, and FIG. 4B shows a processing flowchart when a custom character is registered. The deletion and registration processing operations of the embodiment will be described below in accordance with the processing steps of the processing flowchart of FIG. 4. Note that each of the following processes is performed by the main processor 17 unless otherwise specified. Further, the registration information of the deleted private character is registration information (2), the corresponding area (moth-eaten empty area) on the character pattern memory 11 is the area 111, and the last registered private character (Q,
Assume that the registration information of the character code r14a5J) is registration information (n), and the corresponding area on the character pattern memory 11 is area 111n (see FIG. 3A).

These registration information (0) to (n), . . . are the first memory addresses of the storage positions in the memory when the registration table 12 is configured with a memory.

(1) Deletion Processing Operation■ Step 311 When deleting a custom character that has already been registered, the character code of the custom character to be deleted is sent to the printing device from an upper host (not shown).

(2) Step S12 The main processor 17 of the printing device refers to the registration table 12 and determines whether this erased character is the last registered character (ie, character Q). This determination is made by comparing the character code (14a5) of the registered character Q between the deleted external character and the external character.

(2) Step 311 When the deleted external character is the registered character Q, the character code of the character Q in the registration table 12, that is, the character code (14a5) of the registration information (n), is cleared to (0). Furthermore, the character pattern of the character Q is cleared in the area 111n of the character pattern memory 11. The letter Q is erased by the letter Q.

(2) Step SI4 The main processor 17 moves the pointer SP indicating the position of the registered information in the registration table 12 to the position of the previous registered information (old registered information (n)).

As a result, the next new external character to be registered will be registered in the area of the currently deleted registration information (n). This is because, as mentioned above, the registration information is registered in the registration table 12 from top to bottom in the registration order, and in the character pattern memory 12, character patterns are developed sequentially from the upper left to the lower right. .

■ Step 315 If the deleted private character is not the registered character Q in step SIz, the main processor 17 uses the registration information (n
) is the character code of the registered character Q (
14a 5) is overwritten in the character code area of the registration information (g) of the deleted external character. A pointer SPe is set at the position of the registration information (g) (see (a) in FIGS. 3A and 3B).

■ Step SI6 The main processor 17 instructs the drawing processor 13 to
The character pattern in the character pattern memory ll pointed to by the character pattern storage address of the registration information immediately before the pointer SP, that is, the external character, is the character pattern of the registered character Q at the character pattern storage address of the registration information pointed to by the pointer SPe. The area on the character pattern memory 11 indicated by
In other words, the area 111k where the character pattern of the deleted external character was located
and overwrite it (see Figure 3C (b)).

■ Step Sl? The main processor 17 clears the character code (14a 5) of the registered character Q to (0) for the external character in the area of the old registration information (n) immediately before the pointer SP, and clears the character code (14a5) of the registered character Q to (0), and ) becomes a free area (see Figure 3C (a)).

■Step S14 The main processor 17 executes step S14 in step S14 described above.
Similarly, the pointer S'P indicating the position of the registered information in the registration table I2 is moved to the previous registered information (registered information (
n)) to position SP'.

As a result, the next new external character to be registered is registered in the area of the registered information (n) that has been deleted this time.

In the above manner, the registration table 12 and the character pattern memory IL are updated as shown in FIGS. 3D (a) and (b), and the deletion process for the external characters instructed by the host is completed. When the deletion process of external characters is completed,
On the registration table 12 and character pattern memory 11,
As shown in the figure, there is no free space.

Thereafter, in the same manner, each time there is an instruction to delete a registered non-registered character from the upper host, the steps S11 to S described above are performed.
1. The above processes are repeated to perform the deletion process on the registered non-standard characters.

(2) Registration processing operation ■ Step SZI When registering a new non-standard character, the upper host sends the character code of the new non-standard character to the printing device.

■ Step Sz2 The main processor 17 uses the pointer SP of the registration table 12.
Register the character code of the new external character in the character code area of the registration information specified by .

As explained in the deletion processing operation above, this registered area is the free area next to the registered area at the bottom, and the character pattern storage address is the free area next to the last registered area on the character pattern memory 11. Indicate the area.

■ Step Szz The main processor 17 instructs the drawing processor to store the character pattern of the new external character in the free area next to the last registered area on the character pattern memory 1 according to the character pattern storage address of the registered information registered in step St2. Expand.

■ Step S! 4 The main processor 17 advances the pointer SP indicating the position of registered information in the registration table 12 to the next position of registered information.

Thereafter, each time there is an instruction to register a new external character from the upper host, the above-mentioned processes from step S pattern memory ll
Above, the character pattern is developed sequentially from the top left to the bottom right.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited thereto.

For example, in the deletion process, the processing order of step S15 and step S11+ may be changed. Furthermore, the present invention is applicable not only to printing devices but also to output devices such as display devices.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Every time a custom character is deleted, the character code and its character pattern of the registration information of the last registered custom character are moved to the free space in the registration table and character pattern memory created by the deletion. There is no need to provide a separate table for managing the presence or absence of moth-eaten free space on the memory, and registration and deletion of external characters can be managed with a simple configuration of only the registration table.

(2) When registering a new non-standard character, there is no need to search for the presence or absence of moth-eaten free space on the character pattern memory. Since it can be expanded, the registration process of new external characters can be performed easily and efficiently. This makes it possible to simplify the entire non-standard character management processing procedure, and to improve the overall non-standard character management processing efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram of the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a printing device used to implement an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3A is a non-standard character deletion/registration processing method of the same embodiment, and Fig. 3B is the same. FIG. 3C is an explanatory diagram of the custom character deletion/registration processing method of the embodiment. FIG. 3D is an explanatory diagram of the custom character deletion/registration processing method of the same embodiment. FIG. 5, which is a processing flowchart of the embodiment, is an explanatory diagram of a conventional character management system of a printing device. 1 and 2, 11--Character pattern memory, I:l"-Registration table, 13-Drawing processor, 14-Bit map memory, 15-Printer controller, 16-Printer,
17--Main processor, 18--Control memory, 19--DMA controller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A character pattern memory (character pattern memory) that stores character patterns of each character in the form of dot images, dividing internal characters for constant use and external characters for temporary use and erasing them after use. 11) and a registration table (12) for managing registration information including character codes and addresses on the character pattern memory (11) for the character patterns, (a) one When a private character is deleted, a processing step of moving the character code of the registration information registered in the registration table to the character code area of the registration table (12) in which the registration information of the deleted private character was stored; a processing step of moving the character pattern indicated by the character pattern storage address of the registered information to the area on the character pattern storage area of the registration information of the deleted private character; (c) for the new private character, the registered information is stored in the registration table (1
2) A processing step of registering the character pattern next to the last registered information and storing the character pattern next to the last character pattern storage area on the character pattern memory (11). External character management method in .