JPH0433629B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a format control method in a dot printer that allows vertical and horizontal ruled lines to be correctly printed in a dummy space portion of an output format.

For example, in a kanji printer device, there are 24 kanji characters.
It is represented by ×24 dots. For example, the dot spacing is 1/160 inch, and the width of pica characters is 1/160 inch.
10 inches, and 1/10 inch is generally called 1 pitch. Therefore, the width of 24×24 dots is 1.5 pitches. Various character pitches can be used to print kanji, such as 1.5 character pitch and 2.0 character pitch. For example, when character pitch is 2.0 pitch, 8-dot dummy between the letters
It is done with a space section.

When printing kanji with a character pitch of 2.0, the kanji character pattern is read from the kanji character generator (hereinafter simply referred to as kanji CG) and stored in the print pattern memory, and then dummy spaces are used as the print pattern. put it in memory,
By repeating the above process, one line of character patterns is stored in the print pattern memory, and then one line of character patterns is printed.

Incidentally, dot printers are used to print not only characters but also vertical and horizontal ruled lines. In conventional dot printer devices, vertical ruled lines and horizontal ruled lines are also defined as characters, and dot patterns corresponding to vertical ruled lines and horizontal ruled lines are stored in advance in the kanji CG. For example, when a character code representing a vertical ruled line is sent, a dot,
The printer device selects a dot pattern representing vertical ruled lines and prints it. In this type of dot printer device, it is not possible to print a dot pattern in the dummy space, so
When you print ruled lines, the lines are broken.

The present invention is based on the above invention, and includes:
It is an object of the present invention to provide a format control method for a dot printer device that allows vertical ruled lines and horizontal ruled lines to be printed even in dummy space areas.

Therefore, the format control method in the dot printer device of the present invention is to print a dot pattern for one character specified by the character code sent from the central processing unit.
a character pattern output mechanism unit that outputs each column element; a printer register that stores a format control pattern for column elements for printing a ruled line pattern in the dummy space area sent from the central processing unit; a printer control device having a selector for selecting data from either the character pattern output mechanism section or the printer register based on a command from the central processing unit; In a dot printer device that has a print pattern memory for one line of characters to be stored next to data and a dot printer that prints the contents of the print pattern memory, a dummy paper between characters is used. When printing ruled lines in a space, the central processing unit prints multiple format control patterns determined by the ruled lines in order.
The format control patterns are sent to a printer device and sequentially written into the print pattern memory via the printer register and the selector. Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a terminal to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a kanji printer control device and a kanji printer used in the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a diagram explaining the printing of vertical ruled lines in the dummy space area, Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the printing of horizontal ruled lines and vertical ruled lines, and Figure 5 is the output format in the case of 1.5 pitch and the control on the central processing unit side. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the output format and the flow of control on the central processing unit side in the case of 2.0 pitch and vertical ruled lines.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a disk device, 2 is a disk controller, 3 is a main memory, 4 is a floppy disk controller, 5 is a floppy disk device, 6 is a central processing unit, 7 is a display controller, 8 is a display device, 9 is a keyboard control device, 1
0 is the keyboard, 11 is the kanji printer control device,
12 each indicates a Kanji printer.

In FIG. 1, a disk device 1 is for storing various data, and a disk control device 2 is for controlling the disk device 1. Maine·
The memory 3 stores various data and programs, and the central processing unit 6 uses the programs and data on the main memory 3 to execute various processes. The floppy disk device 5 stores, for example, control programs and processing programs. The display control device 7 receives display data and control information sent from the central processing unit, and causes the display device 8 to display various images based on these display data and control information. The keyboard control device 9 receives key information input from the keyboard 10 and sends it to the central processing unit. The kanji printer device 11 receives print data, control information, etc. from the central processing unit 6 side, and controls the kanji printer 12 based on the print data, control information, etc.

FIG. 2 shows details of the kanji printer device. In FIG. 2, 13 is an order register, 14 is an order decoder, 15 is a memory address register, 16 is a kanji code register, 17 is a counter control section, 18 is a counter, 1
9 is an address translation unit, 20 is a selector, and 21 is an
Kanji CG with RAM configuration, 22 is a selector, 23 is a printer register, 24 is a series parallel parallel circuit,
25 is a selector, 26 is a kanji pattern memory,
Reference numerals 27 indicate Kanji vertical and horizontal pattern output mechanisms.

The data sent from the central processing unit 6 to the Kanji printer control device via the bus includes memory address data, Kanji CG data, orders (commands), Kanji codes, format control patterns, and function codes. be. The memory address data specifies at which address of the kanji CG 21 the kanji CG data should be written. Kanji CG data is written to Kanji CG21. The order instructs the operation of the Kanji printer control device, and is set in the order register 13 and sent to the order decoder 14.
It is analyzed by Kanji code is Kanji code
The CG data of the corresponding Kanji character is stored in the register 16 and read out from the storage area designated by this Kanji code. For example, 72 for one kanji character.
A byte area is allocated, and the Kanji code indicates the starting address. The format control pattern means a column element used when printing a ruled line pattern in the dummy space area, and this format control pattern is set in the printer register 23. As a format control pattern, for example, X'000000', X'800000', X'
FFFFFF', X'CCCCCC', etc. The function code is, for example, a print start code or a line feed code. The memory address register 15 is used when writing Kanji CG data to the Kanji CG 21. The kanji code register 16 stores a kanji code, and this kanji code becomes the address of the kanji CG 21. The counter control section 17 controls the counter 18. The contents of the counter 18 are converted into addresses by an address conversion circuit 19, and the output of the address conversion circuit 19 specifies an address within the storage area for one character. The combination of the contents of the kanji code register 16 and the contents of the address conversion circuit 19 becomes the address of the actual kanji CG 21. selector 2
0 is controlled by the output of the order decoder 14, and when writing kanji CG, the contents of the memory address register 15 are selected and output, and the kanji CG is
Kanji code register 16 when reading CG
and the output of the address conversion circuit 19 are selected and output. The Kanji CG 21 stores Kanji CG data, that is, the dot pattern of Kanji characters. If one character is 24 x 24 dots, 72 bytes are allocated to one character, and one word is, for example, one byte. . The selector 22 is the counter 1
One bit is selected from the read data based on the contents of 8. Serial parallel conversion circuit 24
is the serial signal sent from the selector 22.
It converts into a bit parallel signal and outputs it. Printer register 23 stores format control patterns or function codes. The selector 25 selects either the printer register 23 or the serial/parallel conversion circuit 24 based on the signal from the order decoder 14. The data output from selector 25 is stored in print pattern memory 26. The print pattern memory 26 stores a print pattern for one line.
When a print start code is sent from the central processing unit, dot patterns are sequentially read out from print pattern memory 26 and sent to a print head (not shown).

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating printing of vertical ruled lines in a dummy space section. In the example in Figure 3, one character consists of 24 x 24 dots, and the width of the printed character is
It is said to be 2.0 pitch. Generally, a character composed of a matrix is composed of a body face and a letter face. In the case of a 24x24 character, the body face has a size of 24x24, and the letter face has a size of 24x24. - Exists within the face and has a size of 22 x 22. It is also possible to draw a ruled line in the space between the body face and the letter face. One pitch is 1/10 inch, and the dot spacing is 1/160 inch.

At this timing, a kanji output instruction is given, and the dot patterns read from the kanji CG 21 are sequentially written into the print pattern memory 26. At this timing, data consisting of 24 bits of all "0" is sequentially sent eight times in succession from the central processing unit 6, and these eight pieces of data are sequentially written into the print pattern memory 26. At the next timing, a kanji output instruction is given, and the dot patterns of kanji specified by the kanji code are read out from the kanji CG 21 in order as described above, and these are written into the print pattern memory 26 in order. At this timing, data consisting of 24 bits of all "0" is sent seven times in succession from the central processing unit 6, and these seven pieces of data are sequentially written into the print pattern memory 26.
At this timing, 24-bit data consisting of all "1"s is sent from the central processing unit 6 and written into the print pattern memory 26. By repeating such processing, the print pattern of the character string with vertical ruled lines is stored in the print pattern memory 26.
will be written to.

After the first line is printed (the area surrounded by the solid line in Figure 3), 1/8 inch (20
(corresponding to dot) A line break is performed. The printing area of the second line is indicated by a dotted line. In the case of 1/8 inch line feed, no actual kanji pattern is printed on the second line, but only ruled lines are printed. At the first timing, a blank character (blank dot pattern consisting of 24 x 24 dots) is developed in the print pattern memory 26, and at the next timing, data consisting of 24 bits consisting of 8 all "0's" is sequentially stored. The print pattern is written to the print pattern memory 26. Even at the next timing, blank characters are printed pattern memory 26
At the timing of , 24-bit data consisting of 7 all "0s" is sequentially written to the print pattern memory 26, and at the timing of , 24-bit data of all "1" is written to the print pattern memory 26. will be written to. At the next timing, the blank character is printed pattern memory 2.
It will be expanded to 6. After the second line is printed,
A 1/8 inch line break is performed. The actual kanji pattern can be printed on the third line.

FIG. 4 explains printing of horizontal ruled lines and vertical ruled lines. At this timing, a kanji code indicating a horizontal ruled line is set in the kanji code register 16, and reading of the kanji CG 21 is instructed. Then, the dot pattern of horizontal ruled lines is read from the kanji CG 21, and the elements of the dot pattern of horizontal ruled lines are sequentially written into the print pattern memory 26. At this timing, data consisting of 24 bits with only the first one being ``1'' and the rest being all ``0'' is sent out eight times in succession from the central processing unit 6, and these eight pieces of data are sequentially stored in the print pattern memory 26.
will be written to. At the next timing, processing similar to the above timing is performed. At the timing, data in which only the first part is "1" and the rest are all "0" are sent out from the central processing unit 6 seven times in a row, and these seven pieces of data are sequentially stored in the print pattern memory 26. be done. At the next timing, 24-bit data consisting of all "1"s is sent from the central processing unit 6 and written into the print pattern memory 26. At the next timing, the same processing as at the above timing is performed, and at the next timing, the same processing as at the above timing is performed.

After the first line of printing (printing in the area surrounded by solid lines in FIG. 4) is performed, a 1/8 inch (corresponding to 20 dots) line feed is performed. The printing area of the second line is indicated by a dotted line. The actual kanji pattern can be printed on the second line. At the first timing, a kanji dot pattern (24 x 24 dots) is developed in the print pattern memory 26, and at the next timing, 8 all "0"
The 24-bit configuration data is sequentially printed as a print pattern.
is written to memory 26. At the next timing, the kanji dot pattern is developed in the print pattern memory 26, at the timing, data consisting of 24 bits of 7 all "0" is sequentially written to the print pattern memory 26, and at the timing of 24-bit order "1" data is written into the print pattern memory 26. At the next timing, the kanji dot pattern is developed in the print pattern memory 26. After the second line is printed, a 1/8 inch line feed is performed. The actual Kanji dot pattern cannot be printed on the third line.

FIG. 5 shows the output format and the flow of control on the central processing unit side when the character pitch is 1.5. In this case, the size of the print area allocated to one character is 3/20 x 3/20 inches. When printing with a character pitch of 1.5, the central processing unit 6 performs the following control.

Set the character code in the kanji code register 16. In this example, the kanji code for the kanji "kan" is first set.

An order called "Send Kanji Pattern" is set in the order register 13. As a result, the elements of the corresponding character dot pattern are sequentially sent to the print pattern memory 26 and stored therein.

Check whether all character codes of characters to be printed have been sent. If NO, the above control is repeated, and if Yes, the following control is performed.

Printing start code (function code)
Send out. Upon receiving this code, the kanji printer 12 starts printing.

Wait for printing to finish. Kanji printer 12
When printing of one line is completed, it notifies the central processing unit 6 of the completion of printing.

FIG. 6 shows the output format and the control flow of the central processing unit when the character pitch is 2.0 and there are vertical ruled lines. In this case, the size of the print area allocated to one character is
The height is 1.5 pitch and the width is 2.0 pitch. The central processing unit performs the following control.

Set the kanji code in the kanji code register 16. In this example, the kanji code for the kanji "kan" is first set.

An order called "Send Kanji Pattern" is set in the order register 13. As a result, the kanji CG21 is read out, and the elements of the character's dot pattern are sequentially changed to the printed pattern.
It is stored in the memory 26.

Send format control pattern X'000000'.

Check whether format control pattern X'000000' has been sent seven times. If No, perform the above processing, and if Yes, perform the following processing.

Check whether there are vertical ruled lines. If Yes, perform the following process; if No, perform the following process.

Send format control pattern X'000000'.

If the vertical ruled line is a solid line, X'FFFFFF' is transmitted, and if it is a dotted line, X'CCCCCC' is transmitted.

Check whether all the character codes of the characters to be printed have been sent. If No, perform the above processing, and if Yes, perform the following processing.

Send the print start code.

Check whether printing of one line is completed.

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, it is possible to correctly print ruled lines even when printing is performed with dummy spaces.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a terminal to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a kanji printer control device and a kanji printer used in the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a diagram explaining the printing of vertical ruled lines in the dummy space area, Figure 4 is a diagram explaining the printing of horizontal ruled lines and vertical ruled lines, and Figure 5 is the output format in the case of 1.5 pitch and the control on the central processing unit side. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the output format and the flow of control on the central processing unit side in the case of 2.0 pitch and vertical ruled lines. 1... Disk device, 2... Disk control device, 3
...main memory, 4...floppy disk control device, 5...floppy disk device, 6...central processing unit, 7...display control device, 8...display device,
9...Keyboard control device, 10...Keyboard, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Kanji printer control device, 12... Kanji printer, 13... Order register, 14... Order decoder, 15... Memory address register, 1
6...Kanji code register, 17...Counter control section, 18...Counter, 19...Address conversion section, 2
0...Selector, 21...Kanji CG, 22...Selector,
23...Printer register, 24...Serial parallel conversion circuit, 25...Selector, 26...Kanji pattern memory, 27...Kanji character vertical and horizontal pattern output mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A character pattern output mechanism unit that outputs a dot pattern for one character specified by a character code sent from a central processing unit, one row element at a time; A printer register that stores a format control pattern that is a column element for printing a ruled line pattern in the sent dummy space area, and a printer register that stores a format control pattern that is a column element for printing a ruled line pattern in the sent dummy space area; a printer control device having a selector for selecting data from either one of the registers; and a print pattern memory for one line of characters for storing the data selected by the selector next to the stored data. In a dot printer device equipped with a dot printer that prints the contents of the print pattern memory, when printing ruled lines in the dummy space between characters, the central processing unit sends the ruled lines to the dot printer. The above dots and multiple format control patterns determined by
A format control method in a dot printer device, characterized in that the format control patterns are sent to the printer device and sequentially written into the print pattern memory via the printer register and the selector.