JPH04142956A - Printer controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent erroneous printing on an undesired recording sheet and to improve a using efficiency and operability of a printer by providing discriminating means for analyzing code data of a predetermined unit and discriminating type of a sheet to be printed based on the data. CONSTITUTION:A data analysis task first read a predetermined unit printing data to be spooled in an external memory 6, analyzes the read printing data, and discriminates whether a recording sheet to be recorded is a continuous sheet or a cut sheet based on the data of the predetermined unit. If these commands are discovered in the printing data, whether corresponding recording sheets are coincident with those set in a present printer or not is checked. If the sheet corresponding to the data coincides with the sheets set to the printer, the data is transmitted to an output task. If both do not coincide, printing data of next unit is read from an external memory 6, and its analysis is maintained. If there exists printing data which is not yet output to the printer, it is judged that they do not correspond to the set sheet. As a result, it can be handled without erroneous printing of the data on the sheet of different type.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a printer control device suitably implemented in a printer or the like used as an output device of a computer or the like.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Computer systems equipped with multitasking functions and designed for multi-user use have been widely used. In such computer systems, multiple users often share one printer.

Therefore, when print data is output from a task used by each user, print data from multiple tasks will be mixed. Therefore, a so-called spooler function is usually used to temporarily store the print data from the tasks used by each user in an external storage device such as a hard disk drive, organize the print data for each user, and output it to the printer. There is.

Also, LAN (Local Area Network)
rk), etc., a plurality of terminals may be connected to one printer via one computer system. In such a case, a computer system connected to the printer organizes print data from other terminals and outputs it to the printer to implement a spooler function.

Further, when a plurality of printers are used, a computer system having the spooler function selectively allocates print data to each printer and outputs the data.

On the other hand, the print data requested by each user may include a mixture of data that should be printed on continuous paper (perforated computer paper, etc.) and data that should be printed on cut paper. be.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the above conventional example, if the recording paper on which the spooled print data is to be recorded does not match the recording paper currently set in the printer, correct printing results cannot be obtained. In the end, there was a drawback that it had to be reprinted. In addition, spooled print data is normally arranged in the order in which it was output, so even if print data that matches the recording paper set in the printer is stored in an external storage device, etc., it will be matched before that. If there is print data that does not work, there is a risk that the printing operation will not be performed until, for example, the operator resets the recording paper.

Furthermore, when using multiple printers, the user or operator compares the recording paper on which the spooled print data is to be recorded with the recording paper set in each of the multiple printers, and determines which You must specify which printer you want to output the print data to.
It had the disadvantage of poor operability. In addition, for this reason, the user must always know the recording paper set in each printer, and the recording paper set in the selected printer may be different from the recording paper on which the print data should be recorded. In such cases, there is a possibility that correct printing results may not be obtained and printing may have to be performed again.

In particular, for printers with a command system that does not include a chart paper specification command in the print data, it is possible to switch the output printer using the chart paper specification command, or to output an error signal due to a mismatch between the specified chart paper and the printer set chart paper. Since this is not possible, it is difficult to solve the above problem.

An object of the present invention is to provide a printer control device that can solve the above technical problems, prevent undesired printing errors on recording paper, and improve the usage efficiency and operability of the printer. .

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, a printer control device according to the present invention includes an input means for inputting code data including a character code and a control code, and stores a plurality of code data input by the input means in predetermined units. The present invention is characterized by comprising a storage means, and a determination means for analyzing the code data of the predetermined unit and determining the type of recording paper on which printing is to be performed based on the code data.

[Effect]

According to the present invention, the type of recording paper to be printed is determined based on the predetermined unit of code data, so that, for example, the type of recording paper loaded in the printer can be detected by the detection means. It is possible to detect this and output only the corresponding code data to the printer. Furthermore, even when multiple printers are used, coat data can be output depending on the type of recording paper loaded in each printer.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a printer control device 1.00 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of FIG.

Overall control of this device is performed by the CPUI, and its control program is stored in the ROM2 or RAM3.

Keyboard 4 is used to input various commands from the operator.
The input data and messages to be described later are displayed on a display device 5 such as a CRT. The external storage device 6 stores various data and programs, and also stores print data spooled by the present device 100. The spooled print data is sent to the printer 7.
is output from.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the software configuration of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

Each of the application programs 8 to 10 is processed in parallel by the multitasking function of the operating system 11, and has a function of outputting print data.

Print data from each of the application programs 8 to 10 is first stored in the external storage device 6 by the data reception task 12 (spooling). Data reception task 1
2 is also processed in parallel like each application program, so a plurality of units of print data exist in the external storage device 6 according to each application program. Next, each unit of stored print data is analyzed by a data analysis task [3] to be described later, and those that match the paper currently set in the printer are sent to the data output task 14 with priority. The data output task 14 sends the received print data to the printer printer 15.
Output to the printer via .

FIG. 3 is a control flowchart of the data analysis task 13 described above.

The details of the data analysis task will be explained below with reference to FIG.

In addition, other tasks are exactly the same as before.
A detailed explanation will be omitted here.

In the data analysis task, first, predetermined unit print data spooled in the external storage device 6 is read out (step Sl). At this point, if it is determined that the analysis of all spooled print data has been completed by referring to the analysis completion flag (described later) (step S2), the print data that has not yet been output to the printer is It is checked whether there is one (step S6). If the analysis has not been completed, the read print data is analyzed (step S3). One example of a data analysis method is to search for printer control commands specific to continuous paper (perforated paper) and cut paper. A suitable command for the former is a "perforation skip command", and a suitable command for the latter is a "cut sheet feeder control command".

I B 4 E as an example of perforation skip command
I-I (H is J hexadecimal notation), 1B454DH etc. are an example of the cut sheet feeder control command, but considering the case where such a pig happens to appear when outputting a dot image etc., other The above-mentioned data search is performed outside the valid data area of the command. In this way, it is determined whether the recording paper to be recorded is continuous paper or cut paper based on the predetermined unit of print data. Note that if there is no command, it may be determined that it may be recorded on any recording paper.

If these commands are found in the print data,
Compatible recording paper is compatible with your current printer!・Check if it matches what is written. (Step S4).

The recording paper currently set in the printer is determined to be cut paper if, for example, the printer (in the case of a serial printer) is equipped with a cut sheet feeder, otherwise it is determined to be continuous paper. It is judged that. Such data may be manually input by the user using the keyboard 4, but at the time of initialization etc.
A signal may be sent from the printer control unit 100 to inquire whether the printer 7 is equipped with a cut sheet feeder. In addition, for example, there may be an error.

In slap S4, if the recording paper corresponding to the print data matches the recording paper set in the printer, the print data is sent to the output task (step S5).

If the two do not match, the above-mentioned analysis end flag (provided for each unit of print data) is set, and the next unit of print data is read from the external storage device 6 to maintain the analysis.

If the analysis of all the print data spooled in step S6 described above has been completed, and there is print data that has not yet been output to the printer, those print data are stored on the recording paper set in the printer. It is determined that the printer is not compatible, and a message is displayed prompting the user to change the recording paper to be set in the printer (step S7).

FIG. 4 is an example of a screen display of such a message, where the words "continuous" or "cut" are displayed in place of "XX".

[Second Embodiment] In the embodiments described above, the present invention was implemented using a multitasking function in one computer system, but the present invention can also be implemented in a LAN. A block diagram of the configuration in such a case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, a printer control device 100a and terminal devices 108 to 110 are each realized by a computer system completely similar to the printer control device 100 described above, and they are
They are mutually connected via an AN cable 102.

In such a configuration, print data output from each of the terminal devices 108 to 110 is spooled by the printer control device 100a. The printer control device 100a outputs print data to the printer 101 by performing exactly the same operations as the data reception task 12, data analysis task 13, data output task 14, and printer device driver 15 described above.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the printer control section 100.1
00a was realized by a computer system,
A board or the like having functions such as the data analysis task 13 and the data output task 14 may be built into the printer.

[Third Embodiment] Next, an example of implementing the present invention when a plurality of printers are shared will be described. In such a case, the printer control device 200 is connected to a plurality of (two in FIG. 6) printers 207 and 208, as shown in the block diagram of FIG. Like the printer control device 100 shown in FIG. 1, this printer control device 200 includes a CPU 201, ROM 202, RAM 203, keyboard 204, CPU 201, and external storage device 206, and has a software configuration similar to that shown in FIG. There is. Therefore, only the operations characteristic of printer control device 200 will be described here.

FIG. 7 is a control flowchart of the data analysis task of the printer control device 200. In the data analysis task, first, a predetermined unit of print data spooled in the external storage device 206 is read out (step El). At this point, if it is determined that all the spooled print data has been analyzed (step E2), the process ends. If the analysis has not been completed, the read print data is analyzed (step E3).
). The data analysis method at this time is exactly the same as the method described above. Next, output ports are selected based on the analysis results. The RAM 3 stores contents corresponding to a table as shown in FIG. 8, for example, and if the analysis result is continuous paper, the output port to the printer 207 in which continuous paper is set is selected. , if the analysis result is a cut paper, the printer 2 where the cut paper is set
The output port to 08 is selected. Note that the content shown in FIG. 8 may be entered by the user using the keyboard 204, but the communication as described above may be
08 may be created by going to both.

In step E5, the read print data is sent to the output task.

[Fourth Embodiment] Next, a case where the printer control device of the present invention is built into the printer 300 will be described. The printer 300 has a plurality of hinges, as shown in FIG. 9, and cut sheets 301 are loaded on one hinge to which a cut sheet feeder 306 is attached. Further, the other recording paper 304 is discharged onto the paper discharge tray 303.

The printer control device in such a printer 300 also operates in the same manner as in the third embodiment. That is, cable 30
5 or the print data in the input buffer, and bin selection is performed based on the analysis result. After that, the analyzed print data is output to the printing section.

In each of the following embodiments, continuous paper and cut paper were used as the type of recording paper, but the paper size may also be used, for example. In that case, the number of characters in the print data, character size, character spacing,
The recording paper on which the print data should be recorded can be determined from the line spacing and the like.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, by analyzing the content of print data and determining what type of recording paper the print data is intended to be output to, it is possible to improve the When a printer is shared, it becomes possible to handle printing blocks for different types of recording paper without printing errors, and this has the effect of greatly improving the printing function of the entire system.

Additionally, even when sharing multiple printers with different types of recording paper set, it is possible to output print data corresponding to the recording paper set to each printer without any troublesome operations. This dramatically improves operability and printing efficiency.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printer control device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a software configuration in the printer control device 100, and FIG. 3 is a control flowchart 1 of the data analysis task shown in FIG.・, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a message display screen displayed on the display device (CRT) 5, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. Printer control device 200 according to the third embodiment of
7 is a control flowchart of the data analysis task of the printer control device 200, FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a table of recording paper types and output ports in the RAM 203 of the printer control device 200, and FIG. FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a printer 300 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 100. 100a-. 200...Printer control device 1. 201...CPU 6. 206...External storage device 7. 101. 207. 208. 300...Printer

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) An input means for inputting code data including character codes and control codes, a storage means for storing a plurality of code data input by the input means in each predetermined unit, and analyzing the code data in the predetermined unit. What is claimed is: 1. A printer control device comprising: a determining means for determining the type of recording paper on which printing is to be performed based on the code data. (2) In the printer control device according to claim 1,
It is characterized by having a detection means for detecting the type of recording paper loaded in the printing section, and selectively outputting code data corresponding to the type of recording paper detected by the detection means to the printing section. printer control device. (3) In the printer control device according to claim 2,
A printer control device comprising means for outputting a signal indicating when only code data that does not correspond to the type of recording paper detected by the detection means is stored in the storage means. (4) In the printer control device according to claim 1,
A printer characterized in that code data corresponding to the type of recording paper loaded in each printing unit is selectively output from the storage means to each of a plurality of printing units each loaded with recording paper of a different type. Control device. (5) In the printer control device according to claim 1,
A selection signal representing the type of recording paper is output to a printing unit capable of loading multiple types of recording paper to select the type of recording paper, and code data corresponding to the type of recording paper is selectively stored from the storage means. A printer control device characterized by outputting to.