JPH03230218A - Terminal controller and terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To evade the transfer of data different from the setting of the terminal device by reading the data format of data after switching out of a memory when data to be transferred to the terminal device is switched to data from another computer, and switching the setting of the terminal device, then transfer ring the data. CONSTITUTION:Setting data A on the data format, etc., of a data processor 2 and print data A form the data processor 2 are stored in a memory area A provided on the memory of a printer buffer device 1 and setting data B on the data format of a data processor 3, etc., and print data B from the data processor 3 are stored in a memory area B. When printing the print data A on a printer, the printer buffer device 1 sends the setting data A to the printer 4 prior to the print data A to set up the printer 4, but when the print data B is printed on the printer 4, on the other hand, the setting data B is sent to the printer prior to the print data B to change the setting of the printer 4, then the print data B is sent. Consequently, the setting of the data format is invariable coincident.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a terminal control device provided between a computer and a terminal device when one or more terminal devices are shared by multiple computers. In particular, the present invention relates to a terminal control device suitable for operating a shared terminal device in accordance with each data format when the data formats, etc. of each computer are different.

[Prior Art] A case where a printer is used as a shared terminal device and print data from a plurality of combiators is printed by the shared printer will be described below as an example.

A local area network (LAN) is a system in which multiple computers use a shared printer.
). In a system built using this LAN, the shared printer is controlled by a computer called a server, and the computer that wants to print on the shared printer sends and receives data to and from this server, leaving printing control to the server. .

If the scale is not large enough to construct a LAN, connect multiple computers to a terminal control device such as a printer branching device, connect a shared printer to this terminal control device, and each computer can print data. sent to the terminal controller,
The terminal control device connects the computer and the shared printer according to a predetermined priority order, and configures a system that sends print data from the computer to the shared printer for printing. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 1986-63 related to this system
In the conventional technology described in Publication No. 219028, a terminal control device issues a print request from each computer, connects the computer with the highest priority among the computers making the print request, and the shared printer, and processes the print request from this computer. When the print data is sent to the shared printer and it is detected that the strobe signal (synchronization signal) from the computer is not received for a predetermined period of time, it is determined that the transfer of the print data from the computer to the shared printer is completed, After sending a page break signal to the shared printer and performing a page break, it waits again for a print request from each computer. When a print request is detected, the shared printer is connected to the computer with the highest priority among the computers making the print request, and print data is input from the computer to the shared printer. In addition to automatically switching the connection with the computer, it also prevents print data from different computers from being printed on the same page.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When a shared printer is used in a LAN system, the configuration is such that a server that controls the shared printer sends and receives data to and from computers and controls the shared printer. Even if this shared printer is used, no interlayers will occur due to server control. However, in a simple system that controls a shared printer using a terminal control device,
Since the control capability of the terminal control device, that is, the capability of the CPU of the terminal control device, is small, and data flows only in one direction from the computer to the terminal control device, the following interlayer occurs.

When printing with a printer, it is necessary to specify the type of two-character font, the line feed pitch, the number of characters in one line, etc., and to register data of external characters in the printer's built-in memory before printing can be performed. Therefore, printing results that meet the requirements cannot be obtained unless printing control setting data such as the data format is sent to the printer and the printing settings of the printer are made.

Therefore, print data (hereinafter, print data refers to a data string transferred from a computer to a printer for desired printing in a computer print process, and refers to all data including printer control codes). ) is transferred to the printer, print control setting data is sent to the printer to configure the printer. However, when a shared printer is used by multiple computers via a terminal control device, after the data format of a certain computer is set to the shared printer, print data from that computer is subsequently transferred to the shared printer. In this case, if print data from another computer is transferred to the shared printer, that print data will be printed in a data format different from the data format for that print data, and it will not match the request. I cannot get the correct printing result.

Conventional terminal control devices do not take the above-mentioned disadvantages into account, and print data from another computer in the data format of one computer, and may not be able to obtain a print result that meets the requirements. The same thing can be said for other types of terminal devices than printers.

An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal control device that can always match data transferred from a computer with the data format settings of a terminal device that processes the data, and a terminal that incorporates the terminal control device. The goal is to provide equipment.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The above purpose is to provide a system which is provided between a plurality of computers and a shared terminal device, and sends data sent from the computers to the shared terminal device and processes the data to the shared terminal device. In a terminal control device that stores the data format of each computer, when switching data to be sent to a shared terminal device to data of another computer, the data format of the computer is stored in the memory area prior to sending the data. This is achieved by comprising means for reading data from the shared terminal device and changing the settings of the shared terminal device to the data format.

In addition, the above purpose is to provide a terminal device that is connected to a plurality of computers and sends data sent from each computer to a data processing unit for processing. A memory area in which the data format and the data format are stored as a pair; and a memory area in which the data format of the data is read out from the memory area in advance when data of another computer is read from the memory area and transferred to the data processing unit. This is achieved by providing means for transmitting data to a processing unit and adapting the settings of the data processing unit to the data format.

[Operation] The terminal control device maintains the data format of each computer data in its own memory, and when switching the data to be transferred to the terminal device to data from another computer, it changes the data format of the data after switching. Since the data is transferred after reading from the memory and switching the settings of the terminal device, transfer of data that differs from the settings of the terminal device is avoided.

[Example] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be briefly described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a printer branching device which is an example of a terminal control device according to an embodiment of the present invention (in this embodiment, it has a print data buffer function).

Hereinafter, this will be referred to as a printer buffer device. ) is a conceptual explanatory diagram of This printer buffer device 1 includes two computers (hereinafter referred to as data processing devices) that perform data processing.
2 and 3 and one shared printer 4. The memory of the printer buffer device 1 is provided with a memory area A for the data processing device 2 and a memory area B for the data processing device 3. In memory area A,
Setting data A such as the data format of the data processing device 2 is stored, and print data A from the data processing device 2 is also stored. The memory area B stores setting data B such as the data format of the data processing device 3, and also stores print data B from the data processing device 3.

The printer buffer device 1 sends print data A to the printer 4.
When printing data A, setting data A is sent to the printer 4 to set the printer 4, and when printing data B, setting data A is sent before printing data B. Data B is sent to the printer 4, the settings of the printer 4 are changed, and then print data B is sent.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the printer buffer device 1. As shown in FIG. The printer buffer device 1 is CPTJ.

A controller 5 composed of ROM, RAM, etc., a memory 6, an interface 7.8 provided between the data processing devices 2 and 3 and the controller 5, and a printer 4.
The controller 5 includes a printer interface 9 provided between the controller 5 and the controller 5, and an operation switch 10 and a timer 11 connected to the controller 5.

The memory 6 is provided with an area corresponding to the data processing device. In this embodiment, since it is connected to two data processing devices, the memory 6 has an area A for the data processing bag M2.
An area B for the data processing device 3 is provided. Area A consists of an area 61 for storing setting data such as the operation mode of the printer corresponding to the data processing device 2 and data regarding external characters, and an area I*62 for temporarily storing print data sent from the data processing device 2. So, area B is.

It consists of a header 65 for storing setting data of the data processing device 3 and an area 66 for temporarily storing print data sent from the data processing device 3.

Setting data to be stored in each area 61, 65 is performed by inputting an instruction from the operation switch 10 or by inputting a specific command from the data processing devices 2, 3.

Alternatively, the setting data of each data processing device 2, 3 may be registered in the reading area 61.65 from an IC cart or storage medium (not shown). Further, which print data is to be printed is specified using the operation switch 10.

FIG. 3 is a detailed configuration diagram of the interface 7 (the interface 8 has the same configuration). The interface 7 includes a latch circuit 20 that latches data sent from the data processing device 2 at the rising edge of the strobe signal, and It includes a D-type flip-flop 21 that operates at the rising edge of a signal, and an OR gate 22 that takes the logical sum of the CPU busy signal output from the CPU of the controller 5 and the Q output signal of the D-type flip-flop 21.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart illustrating the operation of the interface 7 shown in FIG. Incidentally, the alphabet a=h in FIG. 4 corresponds to the signal lines a to h in FIG. 3.

The data processing device 2 is 1. Data signals a such as setting data and print data of the data processing device 2 are output to the terminal control device 1, but at this time the busy signal C from the interface 7 is at a low level (indicating that the printer buffer device 1 can receive data). ), it outputs a strobe signal. The latch circuit 20 latches the data signal a at the rising edge of this strobe signal S, and also latches the D-type flip-flop 2 at the rising edge of this strobe signal S.
1 operates and makes its Q output signal, that is, the REQ signal f, high level. As a result, the octagonal signal of the OR gate 22, that is, the busy signal C becomes high level (indicating that the printer buffer device 1 cannot receive data).

When the controller 5 detects that the REQ signal is at the high level, it sets the CPU busy signal to high level, reads the data signal from the latch circuit 20, and stores it in a predetermined area of the memory 6 (in the case of setting data, the area 61. If it is print data, it is stored in area 62) and timer 9 is set. Next, the controller 5 outputs a clear REQ signal g to clear the D-type flip-flop 21 and output the REQ signal g.
After returning the signal to the signal port level and setting the CPU busy signal to low level and the busy signal C to low level,
Outputs K signal.

Thereafter, by repeating the same operation, the data processing device 2
The controller 5 transfers the data signal a from the data processing device 2 to the memory 6, and if no data is transferred to the memory 6 for a predetermined period of time counted by the timer 9, the controller 5 determines that the data input from the data processing device 2 has ended. I judge that.

Next, the operation when one printer is shared by two data processing devices using this printer buffer device will be described.

First, an instruction is given from the operation switch 10 to register setting data from the data processing device 2 . Then, the data processing device 2 outputs setting data to the printer buffer device 1. The printer buffer device 1 stores this setting data in the area 61 of the memory 6 according to the procedure explained in FIG.

When the input of the setting data to the printer buffer group W1 is completed, there will be no more data to be output from the data processing device 2 to the printer buffer device 1, so the timer 11 times up the setting time, and the controller 5 then starts inputting the data. Detect termination.

Next, the setting data from the data processing bag @3 is registered in the area 65 of the memory 6 in the same manner.

Next, when print data is input from the data processing device 2 to the printer buffer device 1, the controller 5 stores this print data in the area 62 of the memory 6 according to the procedure described above. At this time, if this print data is to be printed by the printer 4, the instruction is given using the operation switch 10.

Due to this.

In parallel with storing the print data in the memory area 62, the area #
The data stored in C61 (setting data) is read out and sent to printer 4.

Thereafter, while receiving print data from the data processing device 2 and storing it in the area 62 of the memory 6, all data stored in the area 61 is sent to the printer 4, and the printer 4 changes its own operation mode based on this setting data. , set external characters, etc.

When the settings of the printer 4 are completed, the controller 5 sends the data (print data) stored in the memory area 62 to the printer 4 in the order in which they are stored, and the printer 4 prints this print data.

When the controller 5 detects that the output of the print data from the data processing device 2 has been completed by the time-up of the timer 11, and the controller 5 has finished sending all the data stored in the memory area 62 to the printer 4, the data processing device 2 Printing ends.

Next, when printing is to be performed by the data processing device 3, an instruction to that effect is made with the operation switch 1o, and the print data is sent from the data processing device 3 to the printer buffer device 1.Similarly to the above, the controller 5 receives this print data. is stored in the area 66 of the memory 6, and in parallel, the setting data of the data processing device 3 is read from the area 65 and sent to the printer 4. When the printer 4 receives this setting data, it changes its own settings to those for the data processing device 3. Therefore, when print data from the data processing device 3 is sent to the printer 4 after that, printing is performed according to the setting data of the data processing device 3, and printing is performed according to the setting data of the data processing device 2. There isn't.

If print data is input from the data processing device 2 to the printer buffer device 1 while the data processing device 3 is printing, the controller 5 reads the print data of the data processing device 3 from the area 66. Printer 4
Meanwhile, print data sent from the data processing device 2 is stored in the area 62. And data processing device 3
After the input of print data from the area 66 is completed and the sending of the data stored in the area 66 to the printer 4 is completed, the setting data of the data processing device 2 is read from the area 61 and sent to the printer 4. As a result, the printer 4 changes its own settings to those for the data processing apparatus 2 after the data processing apparatus 3 finishes printing (7), after which the controller 5 sends the data stored in the area 62 to the printer 4.

The data processing device 2 performs printing.

According to the embodiment described above, each time the data sent to the printer is switched to the print data of another data processing device, the setting data of that data processing device is sent to the printer and the settings of the printer are changed. For example, data processing device 2
The print data of the data processing device 3 will no longer be printed using the external characters set in .

In addition, by inserting control data for performing a page break in the printer 4 into a part of the setting data described above, it is possible to transfer the print data output from the printer buffer device 1 to the printer 4 from that of the data processing device 2. When switching to that of processing device 3, a page break is performed, and the printing of both data processing devices 2 and 3 will no longer be done on the same page.

Furthermore, by configuring the setting data as shown in Figure 5, when switching the data processing device that performs printing, it is possible to print a message such as the user name or computer number on the first page after switching, and the printing result This makes it easier to organize and distribute information to each user.

In the embodiment described above, when setting data and print data are read from a predetermined area of the memory 6 and sent to the printer, print data from the data processing device is simultaneously read out from a predetermined area of the memory 6 and sent to the printer.
Of course, by setting the busy signal to a high level at this time, the sending of the print data from the data processing device to the printer buffer device 1 can be made to wait. In this case, the print data No memory area is required to store the data. The printing data sent to the printer can be switched one by one using the operation switch 1o, or it can be switched automatically in the order in which the print data is sent from the data processing device to the printer buffer device 1, or in the priority order of the data processing device. The gist of this embodiment is that when switching the print data, prior to sending the print data to the printer, the setting data of the data processing device related to the print data is sent to the printer. The purpose is to have the settings reconfigured.

In the embodiment described above, the printer buffer device 1 is an independent device from the printer 4, but it goes without saying that the printer buffer device 1 may be built into the printer 4' as shown in FIG. do not have. It goes without saying that the three interfaces 7.8.9 in FIG. 2 may have the same configuration or may have different configurations.

Furthermore, it is possible to create a system in which one terminal is shared by three or more computers, or a system in which multiple terminals are shared.

Although the printer branching device has been described as an example of the terminal control device, the present invention is not limited to this.
This invention can be applied to general terminal control devices that are read by a plurality of computers with different data formats, and in which it is necessary to set different data formats, or to general terminal devices in which this terminal control device is integrated.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, when a shared terminal is used by multiple computers, there is no possibility that the shared terminal will not operate as desired due to differences in the data formats of each computer, and the usage of each computer will be improved. Users will be able to use shared terminals in the same way as dedicated terminals.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of a printer branching device which is an example of a terminal control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of the printer branching device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a timing chart explaining the operation of the interface shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an example of setting data, and FIG. 6 is a printer incorporating a printer branching device. It is a block diagram of a device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Data processing in a printer branching device that is provided between a plurality of data processing devices and a shared printer and switches print data sent from the data processing devices and sends it to the shared printer for printing. A memory area for storing print control setting data for each device, and a memory area for storing print control setting data of the data processing device prior to sending the print data when switching print data sent to a shared printer to print data of another data processing device. A printer branching device characterized by comprising: means for reading the information from the memory area and transmitting it to the shared printer to change the print settings of the shared printer. 2. The printer branching device according to claim 1, wherein the print control setting data includes control data for causing the shared printer to perform predetermined processing. 3. In a terminal control device that is installed between a plurality of computers and a shared terminal device, and causes data sent from the computers to be sent to the shared terminal device and processed by the shared terminal device, the data format for each computer is determined. When switching the data to be sent to the shared terminal device to data of another computer, the data format of the computer is read from the memory area prior to sending the data, and the data format of the computer is transferred to the shared terminal device using the data format. A terminal control device comprising: means for changing settings. 4. The terminal control device according to claim 3, wherein the data in the data format stored in the memory area and sent to the terminal device includes control data for causing the terminal device to perform a predetermined process. 5. In a terminal control device that is provided between a plurality of computers and a shared terminal device, and causes data sent from the computers to be sent to the shared terminal device and processed by the shared terminal device, the device is provided to be compatible with the computer. A memory area that stores data sent from a computer and the format of the data as a pair, and a memory area that stores the data format of the data in the memory area when reading data from another computer and transferring it to a shared terminal device. A terminal control device comprising means for reading data from an area and transferring the data to a shared terminal device so that the settings of the shared terminal device conform to the data format. 6. In a printer device that is connected to a plurality of data processing devices and prints by switching the print data sent from each data processing device in the printing section, there is a memory area for storing print control setting data for each data processing device, and a printing section. When switching the print data to be sent to the print section to the print data of another data processing device, prior to sending the print data, read the print control setting data of the data processing device from the memory area and send it to the print section. A printer device comprising: means for changing the print settings of the printer. 7. In a terminal device that is connected to a plurality of computers and sends data sent from each computer to a data processing unit for processing, the data sent from the computer and the format of the data are provided to be compatible with the computers. A memory area in which data from another computer is stored as a pair, and a data format of the data is read from the memory area and transferred to the data processing unit in advance when data of another computer is read from the memory area and transferred to the data processing unit. and means for adapting the settings of the data processing unit to the data format.