JPH04331987A - Character symbol generation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the number of characters which are generated in each unit time by a stroke dot type generation device which is used for the display and printing of a computer system, etc. CONSTITUTION:A data analyzing means 1 analyzes a character code and attribute information attached to the character and a stroke dot converting means 3 searches a matrix stroke storage means 2 for the matrix strokes of the indicated character code, corrects the magnification and line width of the matrix stroke data, and stores the result in a contour dot character storage means 40. Plural characters can be stored in the contour dot character storage means 40 and when plural characters are stored, a painting-out transfer means 5 paints out plural contour characters and transfers their data to an output device 6. Thus, the number of characters generated in each unit time can be increased.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a character signal generation device, and more particularly to a character signal generation device that electronically generates images of characters and symbols for displaying or printing out characters and symbols in computer systems, etc. Regarding.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art As computers have evolved from calculators to information processing devices, not only numbers but also letters, symbols, etc. (hereinafter abbreviated as letters, etc.) have become increasingly used for display and output.

Furthermore, in the field of printing, systems such as computerized phototypesetting, which aim to print out characters, have also appeared. There are various methods such as a stroke method, a dot method, and a stroke dot method as methods for electronically generating images such as characters due to such changes.

[0004] The dot method is also called the full dot method.
All character pattern information is stored as a set of dots. This method requires a large amount of storage capacity (memory) to store one pattern, and when changing the character size or line width, different patterns are required.

In contrast to this full-dot method, the stroke method connects character patterns with straight lines (strokes) to generate characters, and only stores coordinate point (plot) information and stroke information to generate one character. to occur.

Furthermore, the stroke dot method is a method in which characters are generated by creating an outline character using strokes and filling in the entire inside of the outline at high speed.For this reason, the stroke dot method is faster than the dot method. It requires much less storage capacity and has the advantage of being able to easily obtain various font sizes from a single font pattern by simply enlarging or reducing it, making it suitable for computer phototypesetting. . Figure 3 shows the Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 5
0-14230 and JP-A-1-13108, a conventional example of a stroke dot type character symbol generator is shown. In the figure 1. 2. is a matrix stroke storage means in which stroke data serving as the skeleton of all character sizes is held; 2. is a data means for analyzing character codes and attributes attached to characters; 3. is a stroke dot conversion means which creates a contour dot character for one character corresponding to the size of the matrix stroke specified in the matrix stroke storage means 1 from the character data input and analyzed by the data analysis means 2. 4. 5 is a contour dot character storage means (capacity for one character) that stores data created by the stroke dot conversion means; 6. is a filling transfer means which converts the inside of the outline of one character received from the outline dot character storage means 4 to fill it and transfers it to the output device; 6. is the output device.

In this conventional example, the stroke dot conversion means 3, the outline dot character storage means 4, the filling transfer means 5,
constitutes the image pattern generation section 7.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a conventional outline dot character storage means.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a conventional coloring transfer means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional stroke dot conversion method.

Next, the operation of each part will be explained. First, the character code input from the outside and the negative /
The data analysis means 2 analyzes and processes attribute information such as positive, font, character size, character output start position information, etc., and the stroke dot conversion means 3 searches for the matrix stroke of the specified character from the matrix stroke storage means 1. At the same time, the matrix stroke is multiplied by a magnification to obtain outline dot character data of the specified size.

[0012] In general, when characters with the same matrix stroke are simply enlarged or reduced, the line width of the character only increases or decreases in proportion to the size of the character, and the line width of the character increases or decreases in proportion to the size of the character. Compared to a character, the character becomes unnatural by the amount of character data discarded during conversion, so it is stored in the outline dot character storage means 4 as outline dot character data whose line width has been adjusted based on the correction information. .

Here, the outline dot character storage means 4 operates according to the procedure of the flowchart shown in FIG. If the process is in progress (step ST40), it waits until the process is finished, and when it is finished, the outline dot character data is written in the memory (step ST41), and the fill-in conversion means 5 is activated (step ST42). Then, the filling conversion means 5 performs preprocessing such as setting the filling range and setting transfer parameters to the output device, as shown in the flowchart shown in FIG. 5 (step ST50).

Then, the inside of the outline dot character is filled in according to each parameter and transferred to the output device 6 (step ST51).

Thereafter, post-processing is performed such as releasing the outline dot character storage area that was being used and notifying the end of the filling transfer process to the outline dot character storage means 4 (step ST52).

Next, the method of filling inside the outline character performed by the filling converting means 5 will be explained with reference to FIG. To convert the stroke information of a character pattern as shown in Figure 6a into a dot pattern as shown in Figure 6c,
The stroke dot converting means 3 converts it into an outline dot character as shown in FIG. 6b, in which only the x or y direction components are extracted. (The example shown in FIG. 6b is only for the case where the y-direction component is extracted.) Then, information is read from the contour dot character storage means 4 in the row or column direction, and the first "1" information is output to the output device 6. A conversion method is adopted in which a ``1'' (or ``0'') signal is output to the output device 6, and a ``1'' (or ``0'') signal is output to the output device 6 until the next ``1'' information.

[0017]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In this conventional character symbol generation device, the outline dot character storage means activates the coloring transfer means for each character. There was a problem in that processes other than the transfer process also occurred on a character-by-character basis.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to improve the stroke dot method so that the outline dot character storage means has a capacity capable of storing outline dot character data for a plurality of characters, and performs fill-in transfer processing by treating the plurality of characters as one character. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a character symbol generating device that increases the number of characters generated per unit time by eliminating processing other than coloring transfer processing.

[0019]

Means for Solving the Invention The character symbol generator of the present invention includes a data analysis means for analyzing character codes input from the outside and attribute information attached to characters, and a stroke generator that is the backbone of all character sizes. A matrix stroke storage means for storing data; a stroke dot conversion means for creating a contour dot character according to the size from the matrix stroke of a specified character; and a stroke dot conversion means for converting the information created by the stroke dot conversion means. The present invention is provided with an outline dot character storage means which can store a plurality of characters and instructs a coloring transfer means to color out the plurality of characters at once and transfer it to an output device.

[0020]

[Operation] The outline dot character storage means in the character symbol generator of the present invention can store a plurality of characters, and instructs the coloring transfer means to color the plurality of characters at once and transfer them to the output device, so that The number of characters generated per hour can be increased.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a character symbol generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the outline dot character storage means of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1. is a matrix stroke storage means 2 in which skeleton data of all character sizes is held. is a data analysis means that analyzes character codes and attributes attached to characters; 3. is a stroke dot converting means which creates a contour dot character of one character in size from the matrix stroke instructed by the matrix stroke storage means 1 and the data analysis means 2. 40. 5 is an outline dot character storage means that stores the data created by the stroke dot conversion means 3 for a plurality of characters, and instructs the filling process for the plurality of characters at once; 5.
6. is a filling transfer means that converts a batch of characters from the outline dot character storage means 40 by filling in the inside of the outline, and transfers the result to an output device; 6. is the output device.

In this embodiment, the stroke dot conversion means 3, the outline dot character storage means 40, and the fill conversion means 5 constitute the image pattern generation section 7.

Next, the operation of the character symbol generator constructed as above will be explained.

The operations up to the stroke dot converting means 3 are the same as those in the conventional example, so the subsequent operations will be explained in accordance with the procedure of the flowchart in FIG.

When the data is transferred from the stroke dot conversion means 3, the contour dot character storage means 40 checks whether the fill-in transfer means 5 is processing (step ST10), and if the data is being processed, the data is transferred as in the conventional example. Similarly, it enters a waiting state until the processing is completed. This state also indicates that there is no storage area.

When the process is completed, the area that was being used is released, so the storage of the outline dot character data begins (step ST11). After the storage, the counter register value is decremented (-1) and the counter value is Only when it becomes "0" (step ST12), the fill-in transfer means 5 is activated (step ST13).

In this way, by having the fill-in transfer means 5 perform fill-in transfer processing for a plurality of characters as one character, it is possible to eliminate processing other than the fill-in transfer process of the fill-in transfer means 5. This is to use internal memory more efficiently, and the greater the number of characters created, the greater the effect.

In the above explanation, a counter register was used as an example to manage the number of characters that can be stored in the outline dot character storage unit, but other types of counter devices can also be used as long as the same effect can be obtained. can be achieved.

[0031]

As explained above, the present invention stores a plurality of characters in the outline dot character storage means and then transfers them all at once for coloring, thereby reducing the processing time of the coloring transfer means. You can increase the number of characters that occur per character.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a character symbol generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the outline dot character storage means of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a conventional character symbol generator.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a conventional outline dot character storage means.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a conventional coloring transfer means.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional stroke dot conversion method.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Matrix pattern storage means 2 Data analysis means 3 Stroke dot conversion means 4, 40 Contour dot character storage means 5 Filling transfer means 6 Output device 7 Image pattern generation section

Claims (1)

[Claims] [Claim 1] Data analysis means for analyzing character codes and attribute information attached to characters inputted from the outside, and matrix stroke storage means for holding stroke data serving as the skeleton of all character sizes; A stroke dot conversion means for creating an outline dot character according to the size from the matrix stroke of a designated character, and information created by the stroke dot conversion means for a plurality of characters can be stored and the plurality of characters can be colored and output at once. A character symbol generating device comprising outline dot character storage means for instructing a coloring transfer means to transfer the character to the device.