JPH04325265A - Printer control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve both shortening of time required for printing and possibility of printing in both regular and reverse directions by a method wherein a bit map type buffer memory corresponding to printing coordinates of printer paper is provided and after ending development for a buffer memory of one line content printing data, printing is executed. CONSTITUTION:When a printer is controlled, at first a bit map buffer 5 is made expected and only when a printing data is stored in a data buffer memory 3, the printing data is read in a CPU 1. Then, only when the printing data is not a control code, a column address is made expected and the printing data and the column address are inputted to a character generator 4 and an X-direction address of the bit map buffer 5 is increased. Successively when a character is in a last column and is overflown from the line, an output data of the bit map buffer 5 is sent out to a printer printing head 6 to perform one line content printing. Thereafter, line feed is executed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer control system, and more particularly to a printer control system used for controlling printing of a dot matrix printing type serial printer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional printer control systems of this type, reception of print data and control of the print head of a serial printer are generally performed using a microcomputer. In this case, regarding reception control, the difference between the data reception speed and the printing speed is adjusted by assuming the memory as a buffer and storing several bytes to several kilobytes of print data.

What is shown in FIG. 4 is a block diagram including main components related to the printer control method.
Normally, regarding print data reception control, when the data reception interface 2 receives the reception data 11, an interrupt request signal 12 is output to the CPU 1, and this interrupt request signal 12 causes the CPU 1 to output the data. The print control signal 15 sent to the buffer memory 3 and printer print head 6 is switched to the reception control signal 14 and sent to the data buffer memory 3 and data reception interface 2, changing the processing target from print control to reception control. to be transferred to Along with this, the received data 11 is sent from the data reception interface 2 to the data buffer memory 3 and stored therein, and then the original printing control is resumed.

Next, an example of conventional printing control will be explained with reference to a program flowchart shown in FIG.

First, for the data buffer memory 3,
It is checked whether there is print data (step 20).
1) If there is no print data, the process ends. Further, if there is print data, the print data is read out (step 202). Next, it is determined whether the print data is a control code (step 203), and if it is control data, processing corresponding to the control code is performed (step 21).
2) Return to step 201. Furthermore, if it is not a control code, the column address sent to the character generator 4 is initialized (step 20).
4). Following step 204, the print data code and column address are sent to the character generator 4 (step 205), and the character generator 4 converts the column data of the character corresponding to these print data code and column address into bits. output to the printer print head 6 via the map buffer 5,
In the CPU 1, for the printer print head 6,
A print command is output, and at the same time, a command to move the print head 6 of the printer by one column is output (steps 206 and 207). Then, it is determined whether the column is the last column, and if it is not the last column, the column address is incremented and the process returns to step 205, and if it is the last column, it is determined whether it is the end of the line or not. is determined, and if it is the end of the line, the print head is returned to the beginning of the line (step 210) and the process returns to step 201. If it is not the end of the line, the process directly returns to step 201.

The operation of the character generator 4, column address, and column data in this case will be explained with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, 301
~303 are each indicated by the letter “A”
, ASCII code 41 corresponding to “B” and “C”,
42 and 43 (hexadecimal), and when printing the character "A", a print character code of 41 (hexadecimal) is sent to the character generator 4, and one character is divided horizontally. Column address “0”
By sending the column address “0” of the character “A”
column data is output. The printer print head 6 receives this character column data and performs printing. Note that printing methods include dot impact, inkjet, thermal transfer, and other methods.

[0007] Furthermore, when the printing direction is only one direction, it takes time to return the print head to the beginning of the line at each line feed, so bidirectional printing may be performed. Bidirectional printing is made possible by transferring print data once to a separate buffer and reading it from the same direction as the printing direction. When printing in the reverse direction, the column addresses sent to the character generator 4 must also be sent in the reverse order.

[0008]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional printer control system described above, when different characters or figures are repeatedly printed on the same line, it is necessary to move the printer print head back and forth within the line many times. However, the drawback is that it takes a long time to print.

In addition, in the case of printing characters, it is possible to print in the reverse direction by reading the buffer for one line in the reverse direction and giving the character readout address of the character generator in the reverse direction, but in the case of graphics, it is possible to print in the reverse direction. , escape sequence code, etc., it is not possible to simply read in the reverse direction, so it has the disadvantage that it can only be printed in the forward direction.

Furthermore, when a thermal transfer ribbon is used, the ribbon is consumed as much as the same line is printed repeatedly, so there is a disadvantage that running costs increase compared to graphic printing in word processors, personal computers, etc. be.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The printer control system of the present invention includes at least a CPU, a data receiving interface, a data buffer memory, a character generator,
In a printer control method including a bitmap buffer and a printer print head, a first step of initializing the bitmap buffer, and checking whether print data is stored in the data buffer memory, If the print data is not stored, the process ends, and if it is stored, the print data is stored in the data buffer memory in the second step of proceeding to the next process, and in the determination process of the second step. is stored, a third step of reading the print data into the CPU, and determining whether or not the print data read into the CPU is a control code in the processing of the third step. a fourth step, and a fifth step of initializing the column address if the print data is not a control code in the judgment process of the fourth step; inputting the print data and column address to the character generator; a sixth step of expanding the data output to the bitmap buffer and incrementing the address in the X direction of the bitmap buffer; and following the processing of the sixth step, a step of determining whether the character is in the last column. Step 7: In the determination process of the seventh step, if the character is in the last column, it is determined whether the line is overflowing, and if the line is not overflowing, the process returns to the sixth step. , an eighth step in which the process proceeds to the next step if the line is overflowing; and in the determination processing of the eighth step, if the line is overflowing, the data output from the bitmap buffer is sent to the printer print head; a ninth step of printing one line while moving the head, a tenth step of executing a line feed following the printing process of the ninth step, and a fourth step of
In the step determination process, if the print data is a control code, it is determined whether or not it is a line feed code, and if it is a line feed code, the process proceeds to the ninth step, and the eleventh step In the determination process of step 11, if it is not a line feed code, the process according to the control code is executed, and then the second
a twelfth step in which the character returns to the processing in the seventh step; and a thirteenth step in which the column address is incremented if the character is not in the final column in the determination processing in the seventh step, and then the processing returns to the sixth step; It is characterized by having a processing procedure including.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a control program in one embodiment of the present invention. The operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. Note that the print data reception control function is the same as in the conventional example, and as shown in FIG. 4, when the data reception interface 2 receives the reception data 11, the C
An interrupt request signal 12 is output to the PU 1, and this interrupt request signal 12 causes the processing in the CPU 1 to shift from the print control function to the reception control function, and the received data 1
1 is stored in the data buffer memory 3 from the data receiving interface 2, and then the processing content in the CPU 1 returns to print control.

In FIG. 1, first, the bitmap buffer 5 (see FIG. 4) is cleared and initialized (step 101). Next, it is checked whether or not print data is stored in the data buffer memory 3 (see FIG. 4) (step 102). If there is no print data, the process ends; if there is, the CPU 1 is The print data is read (step 103). It is determined whether or not the print data is a control code (step 104), and if it is a control code, it is determined whether or not it is a line feed code (step 110).
, if it is not a line feed code, processing according to the control code is performed (step 113) and step 1
Return to 02. Further, if it is not a line feed code, the process moves to step 111. Further, if the code is not a control code in step 104, the column address is initialized (step 105). Next, the print data and column address are sent to the character generator 4 (see Figure 4), and the output data is sent to the bitmap buffer 5 (see Figure 4).
(see Figure 4) and expand it into bitmap buffer 5 (see Figure 4).
reference) in the X direction is incremented (step 106). After passing through step 106, it is determined whether or not this is the last column of the character. If the column is not the last column, the column address is incremented (step 109) and the process returns to step 106. If it is the last column, it is determined whether or not the row is overflowing (step 108). If the row is not overflowing, the process returns to step 106, and if the row is overflowing, the bitmap buffer 5 is data is sent to the printer print head 6, one line of printing is performed while moving the head (step 111), a line feed is performed (step 112), and the process returns to step 101.

[0015] Printing according to this method is executed by repeating the above processing procedure.

[0016]

As described above, the present invention includes a buffer memory in a bitmap format corresponding to the print coordinates of printer paper for at least one line, expands print data into the buffer memory, After recognizing that one line of print data has been expanded into the buffer memory, the one line of print data is sent to the print head and printed, reducing the printing time and saving time on drawings. This has the effect of providing a printer control system that enables printing in both forward and reverse directions and significantly improves operability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a processing procedure in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flowchart of an example of a processing order in a conventional example.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of a character generator, column addresses, and column data.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a flinter control method.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU 2 Data reception interface 3 Data buffer memory 4 Character generator 5 Bitmap buffer 6 Printer print head

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A printer control system comprising at least a CPU, a data receiving interface, a data buffer memory, a character generator, a bitmap buffer, and a printer print head, comprising: a first step of initializing the bitmap buffer; ,
A second step that checks whether or not print data is stored in the data buffer memory, and if the print data is not stored, ends the process; if it is stored, proceeds to the next process. a third step of reading the print data into the CPU if the print data is stored in the data buffer memory in the determination process of the second step; and a third step of reading the print data into the CPU; , a fourth step of determining whether or not the print data read into the CPU is a control code; and a fifth step of initializing the column address if the print data is not a control code in the determination processing of the fourth step. a sixth step of inputting print data and a column address to the character generator, developing the data output of the character generator into the bitmap buffer, and incrementing the address in the X direction of the bitmap buffer; Next to the processing in step 7, a seventh step determines whether or not the character is in the last column, and in the determination processing in the seventh step, if the character is in the last column, it is determined whether or not the line is overflowing. If it is determined that the line is not overflowing, the process returns to the sixth step, and if the line is overflowing, the process proceeds to the next step. In some cases, a ninth step of sending the data output from the bitmap buffer to the printer print head and printing one line while moving the head, and a line break following the printing process of the ninth step. In the determination process of the fourth step, if the print data is a control code, it is determined whether or not it is a line feed code, and if the print data is a line feed code, the process is performed in the ninth step. and a twelfth step in which, in the determination process of the eleventh step, if it is not a line feed code, a process according to the control code is executed, and then the process returns to the second step. and a thirteenth step of incrementing the column address if the character is not in the last column in the determination process of the seventh step, and then returning to the process of the sixth step. Features printer control method.