JPH04305782A - Character/graphic generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rapidly execute area filling processing by adding face number information to outline data, simultaneously reading out feature point data from plural feature point storing means corresponding to respective face numbers and executing the area filling processing of the data in parallel. CONSTITUTION:A character/graphic outline is expressed by respective parts, the same face number is allocated to the parts to be simultaneously filled and the face number information is stored in an outline storing means 101 together with the part data of the outline. An outline is calculated from the data stored in the means 101, the feature points of the outline are determined, and in the case of storing the feature points in respective feature point storing means 103 to 106, the feature points of the parts having the same face number are stored in the same feature point storing means correspondingly to the feature point. Reading operation from plural area filling processing means 107 to 110 is simultaneously executed from plural means 103 to 106 and the area filling results from respective means 103 to 106 are added to generate a final character/ graphic.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character/figure generator for outputting characters, figures, etc. to an output device such as a CRT or printer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional methods for generating characters and figures store the outlines of characters and figures as discrete data, and from this discrete data the outlines of the characters and figures are generated by straight lines, quadratic curves, cubic curves, etc. Characters and figures are generated by calculating by interpolation of circular arcs, etc., and performing a filling process to fill in the closed area surrounded by this outline.The outline of a character or figure can be memorized by drawing the outline with a single stroke. There were two methods: one method represented and memorized the contour as a part, and the other method represented and memorized the outline as a part. The present invention is based on a method of expressing and storing contours as parts, but the conventional method of storing contours as parts is to fill in each part and perform addition operations on the results. The final characters and figures were generated.

0003

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, the filling process is performed as many times as the number of parts, so the filling process requires a long calculation time, which is a drawback. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve these problems, and its purpose is to provide a character/figure generator that performs filling processing at high speed even when character data is contained in parts.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] The character/figure generator of the present invention has parts that have outlines of characters/figures and can be simultaneously filled in by assigning the same surface number to the parts and converting this surface number information into the outline. The data is stored in the contour storage means along with the part data of the line, and when the contour is calculated from the data in the contour storage means and the singular point is determined and stored in the singularity storage means, a plurality of singular point storage means are stored. Singularities of parts with the same surface number are stored in the same singularity storage means, and the filling means performs a read operation from a plurality of singularity storage means at the same time, and fills from each singularity storage means. It is characterized by adding the results to generate the final characters/figures.

[0005]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a character/figure generator according to the present invention. A contour storage means 101 in which the outline of a character is stored as discrete data for each part along with surface number information of the part, and a contour line is calculated by interpolation from the discrete data of the outline stored in the outline storage means 101. Singular point determining means 102 that determines the singular point that is fill-in information, four singular point storage means that stores the singular point as bit data, singular point storage means A103, singular point storage means B104, singular point storage means C105, The point storage means D106, the address generation means 113 that generates an address for scanning the singularity storage means 103 to 106 line by line when performing the filling process, and the four singularity storage means 103 to 106 are read in parallel. Filling process is performed in parallel corresponding to each singular point data.4
1 fill-in processing means, fill-in processing means A107
, filling processing means B108, filling processing means C
109, it is composed of a fill processing means D110, an addition means 111 that performs an addition operation of the outputs of the four fill processing means 107 to 110, and a latch means 112 that latches the output of the addition means 111.

[0006] Next, a detailed explanation will be given including a description of each constituent means, but prior to that, a description will be given of holding characters in parts. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of having characters as part data. The standard for parts is that one line does not necessarily have to be one part, but one part can be divided appropriately for reasons such as ease of character design. In the example in Figure 2, one character is 201,2
It is composed of four parts 02, 203, and 204. For example, the contour of part 201 has four representative points 250, 251, and 2.
It is discretely expressed by 52,253. Other methods for expressing the contour discretely include methods for expressing the contour by curve interpolation, and methods for expressing the contour using a skeleton and the amount of displacement from it. The method of holding characters as parts requires less data than the method of expressing outlines in one stroke, and it also has the advantage of being easier to develop into family fonts with different weights and line widths. When filling in characters in parts like this, if you try to fill in at once with only one singular point memory, the areas where the parts overlap will come out white, so traditionally, it was done for each part separately. The results were added together. The present invention has a plurality of singularity storage means and performs filling processing in parallel, thereby reducing the number of times the singularity storage means are scanned during the filling processing, thereby realizing faster processing. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the storage method of the contour storage means 101. In 311, the coordinate data of 250, 251, 252, 253, which is the contour data of the part 201, is stored, and in 301, the surface number "1" of the part 201 is stored. ”, but 312 contains contour data 254, 255, 256 of the part 202.
, 257, 302 has the surface number "2" of the part 202, 313 has the coordinate data of 258 to 263, which is the outline data of the part 203, and 303 has the coordinate data of the part 203.
The surface number "3" of the part 204 is encoded and stored in 314, the coordinate data of 264, 265, 266, 267 which is the outline data of the part 204, and the surface number "1" of the part 204 is stored in 304. ing. Here, the reason why parts 201 and 204 have the same surface number is that the filling process for these two parts can be performed at the same time. FIG. 4 shows the singular point determining means 102, the singular point determining means 103 to 106, and the filling processing means 107 to 11.
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the process performed in 0 using the case of a component 203 as an example. In the singular point determining means 102, the contour storing means 1
From the coordinates of representative points 250, 251, 252, and 253 of 01, calculate the contour line 401 as shown in FIG. 4(a), and when the contour line intersects with the horizontal coordinate line 402, the right side closest to the Singular points 403 to 410 are determined as shown in FIG. 4(b) according to the rule that lattice points of are defined as singular points. 4
The singular point storage means 103, 104, 105, and 106 are for storing the singular points of the parts with surface numbers "1", "2", "3", and "4", respectively. When a point is output, the surface number of the part is also output in synchronization with it, and the corresponding singular point storage means is selected based on the surface number and the singular point is stored there. The surface number of part 203 is “3” as stored in 303.
The singular points 403 to 410 in FIG. 4(b) are stored in the singular point storage means C105. Filling processing means C1
09 performs a filling process based on the singular points stored in the singular point storage means C105, and the singular point data in the singular point storage means is scanned line by line and odd-numbered singular points are filled in.
For example, the pixel 403 that is 1" to the pixel 412 immediately before the next pixel 404 that is 1" is replaced with "1", and the singularity data of FIG. 4(b) is converted to the data of FIG. 4(c). The other three filling processing means 107, 108, and 110 perform filling processing on the outputs of the singular point storage means 103, 104, and 106, respectively, and the processing method is the same.Filling The read operation from the singularity storage means for processing is as follows:
According to the address output from the address generation means 113, the four singular point storage means are performed in parallel, and the four filling processes for the same are also performed in parallel. Figure 5
1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a filling processing means, in which the singular point storage means is constituted by an 8-bit RAM (read/write memory). 510-517
is the data to be read from the singular point storage means, and in the read operation at the beginning of a row, 510 is the data of the leftmost pixel in that row, 511 is the data of the pixel one position to the right, and 51 is the data of the pixel on the right side.
7 is the data of the 8th pixel. In the next read operation, 510 becomes data for the 9th pixel, 511 becomes data for the 10th pixel, and so on. Output signal 520
to 527, the filling results of pixels corresponding to 510 to 517 are output, respectively. A D flip-flop 501 is used to temporarily store fill information, and a clear signal 502 is generated when a row operation starts, and a clock signal 503 is generated every time an 8-bit (8 pixel) read operation is performed. It is input from means 113. When a row operation starts, a clear signal is input, so the output signal 504 of the D flip-flop 501 is "0". Next, from the singular point storage means, 1 of the row
Singularity data from pixel to 8th pixel is 510 to 5
17. Now, 504 is “0” and 51
If 0 is also "0", the output of exclusive OR gate 530 will also be "0" and "0" will be output to 520. If the singular point data 511 of the second pixel is also "0", the output of 531 is also "0" and "0" is also output to 521. If the singular point data 512 of the third pixel is "1", the output of 532 is "1" and "1" is output to 532. 532
When the output becomes 1, it means that the filling carryover information becomes "1", and "1" is output as the output signal until the next singular point occurs. That is, 513,51
If 4,515,516,517 is “0” then 533,
“1” is output to 534, 535, 536, and 537. Next, the clock signal 503 is inputted to a gate 53 which is the filling advance information from the 8th pixel to the 9th pixel.
The output "1" of 7 is stored in the D flip-flop 501, and thereafter, the singular point data from the 9th pixel to the 16th pixel is read out at 510 to 517. Currently, "1" is stored in the D flip-flop 501, and when the singularity data 510 of the 9th pixel is "1", the output of the exclusive OR gate 530 is "0", and the output of the 9th pixel is stored in the D flip-flop 501. Data "0" is output. In this way, when the singular points are at the 3rd and 9th pixels, "1" is output from the 3rd to 8th pixels. The above processing is performed in parallel in the four singular point storage means and the four fill-in processing means. Although FIG. 5 shows the case where the singular point storage means has an 8-bit configuration, it can be implemented similarly in the case of other bit configurations. The addition means 111 performs an addition operation on the outputs of the four filling processing means 107 to 110,
The output result of the adding means 111 is latched by the latch means 112 according to the timing signal outputted from the address generating means 113, and the desired character data is obtained as the output signal 114. As mentioned above, in the character example of FIG. 2, since there are three surface numbers, the singularity storage means D106 and the filling processing means D110 were not used. Generally, it is sufficient to have up to 4 surface numbers, but if there is a character with up to 6 surface numbers, process surface numbers 1 to 4 first. , then process surface numbers 5 and 6 and add the results. Further, in this embodiment, a case has been described in which up to four surfaces can be processed simultaneously, but the number of surfaces that can be processed simultaneously is not limited. As explained above, this embodiment has a plurality of singular point storage means, attaches surface number information to contour line data, and simultaneously reads out singular point data from the plurality of singular point storage means corresponding to the surface number. A feature is that the filling process can be performed by scanning the singular point storage means once. Of course, even when surface numbers are not provided, it is effective to have a plurality of singularity storage means in the sense that processing of a plurality of parts is performed in parallel.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of storing data in the contour storage means in the second embodiment of the present invention. The characters in FIG. 2 are taken as an example.
53 coordinate data, 604 the coordinate data 264, 265, 266, 267 which is the outline data of the part 204, 610 the surface number switching command, 602 the outline data 254, 267 of the part 202, 255,256,
257 is the coordinate data, 611 is the surface number switching command, and 603 is the contour data of the part 203, 258 to 258.
Each of the 263 coordinate data is coded and stored. The second embodiment will also be explained using the block diagram in FIG. It's how the numbers are handled. The singularity determining means initially treats the surface number as "1", determines the singularity of the part 201 stored in 601, and stores the result in the singularity storage means A103 when the surface number is "1". Next, the singular point of the part 204 stored in 604 is determined and the result is stored in the singular point storage means A103 as before. Next, when a surface number switching command is input, the surface number managing section of the singularity determining means counts the surface number by one and sets the surface number to "2". Next, determine the singularity of the part 202 marked in 602, and use the result as the surface number “2”.
” is stored in the singularity storage means B104. Similarly, the singularity of the part 203 written in 603 is determined, and the result is stored in the singularity storage means C10 when the surface number is "3".
5, and when the character data ends, the singular point is read out from the singular point storage means and the filling process is started. The simultaneous reading operation from a plurality of singular point storage means during the filling process, the filling method in the filling processing means, the addition process in the adding means, etc. are the same as in the first embodiment.

[0008]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, the filling process that was necessary for the number of parts can be replaced by adding surface number information to contour data and storing singular points from a plurality of singular point storage means corresponding to the surface numbers. By reading the data simultaneously and performing the filling process in parallel, the filling process can be performed at high speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a character/figure generator of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a case where the outline of a character is held by a part.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a storage method of contour storage means.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a singular point determination method and a filling process.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a fill processing means.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the storage method of the contour storage means.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 Contour storage means 102 Singularity determination means 103 to 106 Singularity storage means 107 to 117 Filling processing means 111 Addition means 112 Latch means 113 Address generation means

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] Contour storage means for storing the contours of characters and figures as discrete data, and singular point determining means for calculating the contours of characters and figures from this discrete data and determining singular points that are fill-in information. A character/figure generating device having a singular point storage means for storing the singular point, and a filling means for performing a filling process based on the singular point data stored in the singular point storage means, the character/figure generating device comprising: 1. A character/figure generating device comprising a plurality of storage means, and reading out singularity data in the filling means from the plurality of singularity storage means at the same time.