JPH04255897A - Character output controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To speed up the output of a nonerect character such as an italic character. CONSTITUTION:The character output controller is equipped with a master character storage memory 5, a coordinate conversion processing part 4, a pattern development processing part 6, and a transfer control part 7 and controls the output of the nonerect character such as the italic character with an outline font. Further, this controller is provided with a memory 10 for dot pattern storage stored with developed dot patterns and a cache control part 9, which performs cache control using said dot pattern storage memory 10 as a cache memory.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a character output control device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a character output control device, and more specifically, the present invention relates to a character output control device that outputs character data using an outline font (or vector font).
The present invention is used in devices (printers, personal computers, etc.) that perform printing, display, etc., and particularly relates to a character output control device that controls the output of non-erect characters such as italic characters.

0002

5 is a block diagram of a conventional character output control device, in which 1 is a host, 2 is a character output control device, 3 is a command processing section, 4 is a coordinate conversion processing section, and 5 is a block diagram of a conventional character output control device. A parent character storage memory, 6 a pattern expansion processing section, 7 a transfer control section, and 8 an output memory.

Conventionally, using outline fonts,
Character output control devices that output italic characters, etc. have been known. An example of such a device is shown in FIG.

This character output control device 2 receives commands from the host 1 and outputs character data, and internally includes a command processing section 3 and a coordinate conversion processing section 4.
, a parent character storage memory 5, a pattern expansion processing section 6, a transfer control section 7, an output memory 8, etc. are provided.

The command processing section 3 analyzes commands from the host 1, and the base character storage memory 5 stores base character data (erect characters) of an outline font.

The pattern development processing section 6 develops a pattern based on the analysis result of the command processing section 3. At this time, the pattern development processing section 6 instructs the coordinate transformation processing section 4 to perform coordinate transformation, and receives the coordinate transformation data. Develop a dot pattern.

Upon receiving an instruction from the pattern development processing section 6, the coordinate conversion processing section 4 stores parent character data (outline font data) of the specified character from the parent character storage memory 5.
, so that it becomes a non-erect character such as an italic character.
It performs coordinate transformation.

The transfer control section 7 transfers the character data developed by the pattern development processing section 6 to the output memory 8.

In such a device, when outputting non-erect characters such as italic characters, the following procedure is performed.

First, from the host 1, the character output control device 2
Send a command to request the output of italicized characters, etc.

[0011] This command is received by the command processing section 3 and its contents are analyzed. As a result, if the command is found to request output of italic characters, etc., the pattern expansion processing section 6 is notified.

Upon receiving this notification, the pattern development processing section 6 immediately instructs the coordinate transformation processing section 4 to perform coordinate transformation.

[0013] In the coordinate conversion processing section 4, the parent character storage memory 5
The parent character data is extracted from , and the coordinates of the designated character are transformed so that it becomes a non-erect character such as an italic character.

Thereafter, the pattern development processing section 6 receives the coordinate-converted data and converts it into a dot pattern.

Thereafter, the character data developed into a dot pattern is transferred to the output memory 8 by the transfer control section 7.

The data in the output memory 8 is sent to an output device (not shown) and output (printed, displayed, etc.).

[0017]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The conventional devices as described above have the following problems.

(1) When outputting non-erect characters such as italic characters, the coordinate conversion processing in the coordinate conversion processing section is complicated and the processing time becomes long. Therefore, it has been difficult to speed up the output of non-erect characters such as italic characters.

(2) If the main character patterns of non-erect characters such as italic characters are stored in memory, character output can be speeded up, but in this case, the memory capacity becomes large.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve these conventional problems and to speed up the output of non-erect characters such as italic characters without increasing the memory capacity.

[0021]

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention, and in the figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 5 indicate the same parts. Further, 9 indicates a cache control unit, 10 indicates a dot pattern storage memory, and 11 indicates a character expansion information memory.

[0022] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is constructed as follows.

(1) A main character storage memory 5 that stores main character data of an outline font, and coordinate conversion for extracting the main character data from the main character storage memory 5 and converting it into a non-erect character such as an italic character. a coordinate conversion processing section 4 that performs the coordinate conversion, a pattern development processing section 6 that develops the parent character data subjected to the coordinate conversion into a dot pattern, and a transfer control section 7 that transfers the character data developed in the dot pattern to an output memory 8,
In a character output control device that controls the output of non-erect characters such as italic characters using an outline font based on a request from a host, a dot pattern storage memory 1 stores data for italic characters etc. developed with the dot pattern.
0 and a cache control section 9 are provided, and the cache control section performs cache control using the dot pattern storage memory 10 as a cache memory.

(2) In the above configuration (1), when receiving a request to output non-erect characters such as italic characters, the cache control unit 9 checks the development state of the dot pattern in the dot pattern storage memory 10. If the character is an expanded character, a request is immediately made to the transfer control unit 7 to transfer the dot pattern, and if it is an undeveloped character, a request is made to the pattern expansion processing unit 6 for expansion, and after expansion, The above transfer request was made.

(3) In the above configuration (2), a character development information memory 11 stores character development information when a dot pattern is developed by the pattern development processing section 6;
The cache control section 9 searches this character expansion information memory 11 to determine the expansion state in the dot pattern storage memory 10.

[0026]

[Operations] Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following functions.

In FIG. 1, when the command from the host is a request to output non-erect characters such as italic characters, the cache control unit 9 searches the character expansion information memory 11 and stores data in the dot pattern storage memory 10. Determine the deployment state of.

If the result is an expanded character, a transfer request is issued to the transfer control unit 7. Upon receiving this request, the transfer control unit 7 reads the corresponding character data from the dot pattern storage memory 10 and transfers it to the output memory.

If the character is an unexpanded character, a request for expansion is made to the pattern expansion processing section 6. After pattern development is performed, the pattern development processing section 6 writes character development information into a character development information memory 11.

After confirming that the dot pattern development process has been completed based on the information in the character development information memory 11, the cache control section 9 issues a transfer request to the transfer control section 7.

Thereafter, the dot pattern is transferred in the same manner as described above. In this way, by performing cache control using the dot pattern storage memory 10 as a cache memory, it becomes possible to perform high-speed character output control with a small capacity memory.

[0032]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings.

(Description of one embodiment) FIGS. 2 to 4 are diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a character output control device, FIG. 3 is an example of character development information, FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of the character output control device. In the figure, Figure 1
, the same symbols as in FIG. 5 indicate the same things.

In this embodiment, at the request of the host 1,
This is an example of controlling the output of italic characters, and will be described in detail below.

As shown in FIG. 2, the character output control device in this embodiment includes a command processing unit 3, a cache control unit 9, a coordinate conversion processing unit 4, a main character storage memory 5, a transfer control unit 7, a character expansion Information memory 11, pattern expansion processing section 6
, a dot pattern storage memory 10, an output memory 8, and the like.

The character output control device 2 is connected to the host 1 and performs character output control processing in response to commands from the host 1.

The command processing section 3, coordinate conversion processing section 4, parent character storage memory 5, and output memory 8 have the same configuration as the conventional example shown in FIG.

The pattern expansion processing unit 6 receives a pattern expansion request from the cache control unit 9 and performs expansion processing. In this case, a coordinate conversion instruction is issued to the coordinate conversion processing unit 4, and the data after the coordinate conversion is converted into a dot pattern, and processing is performed to store it in the dot pattern storage memory 10.

The pattern development processing section 6 also performs processing for storing character development information obtained when the dot pattern is developed into the character development information memory 11.

The transfer control unit 7 receives a transfer request from the cache control unit 9 and performs transfer control. This transfer control performs a process of reading dot pattern data from the dot pattern storage memory 10 for the designated character, transferring it to the output memory 8, and storing it.

The dot pattern storage memory 10 is composed of a cache memory and stores dot pattern data.

[0042] The cache control unit 9 includes the command processing unit 3
Cache control is performed using the dot pattern storage memory 10 as a cache memory in response to command analysis results from the dot pattern storage memory 10.

The character development information memory 11 stores character development information when dot patterns are developed, and stores information such as that shown in FIG. 3, for example.

In this example, character codes (character code 1,
character code 2, character code 3...), conversion matrix (conversion matrix 1...) and expansion destination address (expansion destination address 1, expansion destination address 2, expansion destination address 3...)
...) consists of each piece of information.

[0045] The "transformation matrix" is the coordinate transformation processing unit 4
This is a conversion matrix obtained by extracting parent character data consisting of an outline font and performing coordinate transformation to make it an italic character, for example.

Furthermore, the "destination address" is the address where the dot pattern is stored in the dot pattern storage memory 10.

The processing of the character output control device in this embodiment will be explained below based on the processing flowchart of FIG. Note that each process number in FIG. 4 is shown in parentheses.

First, when the character output control device 2 receives a character output request command from the host 1, the command processing section 3 analyzes the command.

As a result, if the request is to output italic characters (
S1), the cache control unit 9 is notified. The cache control unit 9 searches the character expansion information memory 11 (S
2).

Through this search, it is determined whether or not the character has already been developed in the dot pattern storage memory 10. In this case, it is determined whether the character code and the conversion matrix (see FIG. 3) are the same.

As a result, if the character is an expanded character (S3), the cache control unit 9 issues a transfer request to the transfer control unit 7 (S6).

The information for this transfer request includes the address of the dot pattern storage memory that is the transfer source (the storage address of the character data to be transferred), and the address of the output memory 8 that is the transfer destination (the storage address of the transferred data). address) etc.

[0053] Upon receiving this transfer request, the transfer control unit 7 performs the following steps.
Based on the information such as the address, data is read from the corresponding address in the dot pattern storage memory 10, transferred to the output memory 8, and stored (S7).

[0054] Also, if it is an unexpanded character, (S
3) From the cache control unit 9 to the pattern expansion processing unit 6
A request is made to develop the pattern (S4).

Upon receiving this request, the pattern expansion processing section 6 performs pattern expansion on the designated character, stores the dot pattern in the dot pattern storage memory 10, and stores the character expansion information in the character expansion information memory 11.
write to.

When the cache control unit 9 confirms that the expansion process for the corresponding character has been completed based on the information in the character expansion information memory 11 (S5), it issues a transfer request to the transfer control unit 7 (S6).

[0057] Upon receiving this transfer request, the transfer control unit 7 performs the following steps.
Transfer the dot pattern data in the same way as above,
The data is stored in the output memory 8 (S7).

If the cache control described above is performed, the characters that have been developed in the dot pattern storage memory 10 will be transferred to the output memory 8 as they are without coordinate conversion or pattern development processing, so that the processing will be reduced accordingly. It can save time.

(Other Embodiments) Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention can also be practiced as follows.

(1) It is applicable not only to the processing of italic characters but also to the processing of other non-erect characters such as rotated characters.

(2) As the character expansion information memory, a single memory may be used, or a memory within the pattern expansion processing section or the cache control section may be used.

(3) The coordinate transformation processing section may be an independent processing section, or may be provided within the pattern development processing section.

(4) The character output control device of the above embodiment is as follows:
For example, it is applicable to printers, and also to other devices (eg, personal computers).

[0064]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention has the following effects.

(1) Since the dot pattern storage memory 10 is used as a cache memory to perform cache control, it is possible to minimize coordinate conversion for making non-erect characters such as italic characters. Therefore, faster processing can be achieved.

(2) Since high-speed processing is possible without having main character patterns for italics or other main character patterns for non-erect characters in memory, the memory capacity can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a character output control device in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an example of character expansion information.

FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of the character output control device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a conventional character output control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Character output control device 4 Coordinate conversion processing section 5 Parent character storage memory 6 Pattern expansion processing section 7 Transfer control unit 9 Cache control unit 10 Memory for storing dot patterns 11 Character expansion information memory

Claims (3)

[Claims] Claim 1: A main character storage memory (5) storing main character data of an outline font, and a main character storage memory (5) that stores main character data of an outline font.
A coordinate conversion processing unit (4) that extracts parent character data from 5) and performs coordinate transformation to make it into a non-erect character; and a pattern development processing unit (6) that develops the coordinate-converted parent character data into a dot pattern. and a transfer control unit (7) that transfers the character data developed into the dot pattern to the output memory (8).
), the character output control device controls the output of non-erect characters such as italic characters using an outline font based on a request from a host; A cache control unit (9) is provided, and the cache control unit (9) is provided with a cache control unit (9).
), the character output control device is characterized in that the dot pattern storage memory (10) is used as a cache memory to perform cache control. [Claim 2] When receiving a request to output a non-erect character, the cache control unit (9) determines the expanded state of the dot pattern in the dot pattern storage memory (10), and outputs the expanded character even if it is an expanded character. For example, immediately request the transfer control unit (7) to transfer the dot pattern, and if it is an unexpanded character, request the pattern expansion processing unit (6) to expand it, and after expansion, send the above transfer request. The character output control device according to claim 1, wherein the character output control device performs the following operations. 3. A character expansion information memory (11) is provided for storing character expansion information when the dot pattern is expanded, and the cache control section (9) searches this character expansion information memory (11). 3. The character output control device according to claim 2, wherein the developed state of the dot pattern is determined by determining the development state of the dot pattern.