JPH0458320A - Document processing method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To output the images in each individual output mode and at each time point by displaying the output modes set individually in accordance with the types of output devices on a display device and setting the output mode of a format by an operator. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 1 reads the designated data out of a magnetic disk 4 and sends the data to a memory 3 and obtains the characteristic of a designated output printer by reference to a printer type table 20 contained in an EE read-only memory EEROM 2 to decide the type of the printer. It is decided whether the value except that of the color that can be outputted to the format data on a 2nd printer is set or not for the format data 31 stored in the memory 3 if the output of data is designated to a black/white printer. When only the output enable colors are set, the format data is outputted as it is. Meanwhile the format data is displayed on a display device 6 and corrected when an output unable color is set. Thus the effective images can be obtained even with an output device having the type different from that defined when a format is set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a document processing device suitable for outputting on a different type of output device than when setting a format.

[Conventional technology]

The structure of document data includes text data, figure/image data, and format data that specifies how these data should be output.When outputting in color, specify the color in the format data. There was something to do.

Furthermore, when outputting color data using a monochrome output device, there have been devices that simply convert the color to black and white depending on the shade and output.

[Problem that the invention is trying to solve] However,
The above conventional example has the following drawbacks.

In document data, for the purpose of emphasizing a certain part, etc.
If you specify a partially different color, if you simply convert the color document image to black and white according to the shading and output it, you will not be able to obtain the same effect as you would get by specifying a color in a color image. That is impossible.

For example, in document data where the body text color is black, if you want to make the heading part stand out by making only the heading color red, if you convert this color document image to a black and white image according to the shading, the heading part will be black. It is converted to a neutral color of white, making it less noticeable than the main text,
The effect that was intended to be obtained with a color document image cannot be obtained at all.

[Means for solving problems]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks, there is provided a setting means for setting a format corresponding to the characteristics of a plurality of output devices, a first determination means for determining the characteristics of the output devices, and a determination made by the first determination means. a second determining means for determining whether or not a format corresponding to the characteristics of the output device can be outputted by the output device;
If the determination means determines that the format can be output, the apparatus includes an output control means for controlling output in the format.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[Configuration of Document Processing Apparatus] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the document processing apparatus in this embodiment.

In the figure, 1 is a CPU that controls the entire apparatus, and 2 is a rewritable ROM (read-only memory), which stores a printer type table 20 as shown in FIG. 2 inside. Reference numeral 3 denotes a memory, into which a program related to document processing stored in the magnetic disk 4, such as a program for executing the process shown in FIG. Control and execute.

4 is a magnetic disk, which contains a processing program as shown in FIG. 5, document data as shown in FIG. 3(b), and 4nth (a)
Format data such as > is stored. A keyboard 5 is used to input various information necessary for executing the program.

6 is a display device that displays documents and the like in color. 8 is a color printer that can print documents in color. 7 is a selector, which connects the color printer 8 to this document processing device and also connects to other workstations 9, and can switch between the color printer 8 and other workstations 9 as needed, and vice versa. They also send out signals that indicate whether they are connected. For example, if another workstation 9 attempts to use the color printer while the document processing device is using the color printer 8, the selector 7 will notify the other workstation 9 that the color printer 8 is already in use. It has the function of returning a signal indicating. Furthermore, if the document processing device attempts to use the color printer 8 while another workstation 9 is using the color printer 8, the selector 7 informs the document processing device that the color printer 8 is already in use. Returns a signal indicating. IO is a black and white printer that prints document images in monochrome black and white. In this embodiment, a black-and-white printer will be explained as an example, but this is not limited to a black-and-white printer, and may be a monochrome printer of other colors, or a two-color or three-color printer.

As mentioned above, two printers, the color printer 8 and the monochrome printer 10, are connected to this document processing device, but these printers are designed so that the characteristics of each printer, such as the device number, can be identified. In this embodiment, the color printer is designated as device number 1, and the monochrome printer is designated as device number 2.

In addition, the format data (Fig. 3 (b), Fig. 4 (a)
), the color printer is the first printer, and the monochrome printer is the second printer.

[Printer Type Table] FIG. 2 is a printer type table that is an example of management information for managing the types of printers connected to this device. In this embodiment, this table is stored in the EEROM2.

A printer type table 20 in the figure is this printer type table, and a device number 21 of a printer and a printer type 22 of that printer are stored in association with each other. In the diagram, in the printer type, color indicates a color printer, and monochrome indicates a monochrome printer.

[Document Data and Output Results] FIG. 3 is a first example illustrating document data and its output results in this embodiment. The document data includes text data 30 (Figure 3 (a)) consisting of character strings to be output and character strings that control their format, and format data 31 (Figure 3) that sets the output mode for each format item. (b)).

In the text data 30, the opening is a control symbol that indicates a line break at that point during output. Also, the character string surrounded by 〈...〉 is a control string for controlling the format, and the text surrounded by 〈Start of main heading〉 to 〈End of main heading〉 is the main heading, and 〈 Indicates that the text surrounded by <subheading start> to <subheading end> is a subheading. Note that the portion of the text that does not belong to any heading becomes the main text.

Format data 31 in FIG. 3(b) describes format data necessary when outputting the text data 30 to the first printer and the second printer. The format data is displayed on the display device, and the format is set using the keyboard 5 or the like to achieve a desired output mode. In the figure, format data when outputting to the first printer is shown in column 40, and format data when outputting to the second printer is shown in column 41. Note that, as described above, in this embodiment, the first printer is a color printer, and the second printer is a monochrome printer.

In addition, in this embodiment, there are two types of printers, but
By increasing the number of items in the printer type table of FIG. 2 and FIG. 3(b), it becomes possible to connect multiple types of printers. The contents of each setting item of the format data are as follows. In the figure, 32 is the main heading output method, 33 is the subheading output method, 34 is the main text output method, 35 is the character spacing setting value that is the spacing between characters when the main text is output, and 36 is the line when the main text is output. and the line spacing setting value, which is the spacing between lines, and 37 describes other format items, such as the size of the left and right margins of the paper, the size of the top and bottom margins, etc. 38, a setting value of "color" indicating a color printer is written in the first printer column and a setting value of "monochrome" indicating a monochrome printer is written in the column of the second printer as the format output printer. Second
In printer formatting, blank fields are
Assume that the printer value is applied as is. Regarding the alignment in the settings in headings 32 and 33, "Center" indicates centering, "Left" indicates left alignment, and "Right" indicates right alignment.

Also, regarding the modification in the settings of heading 32.33, “
"Normal" indicates that nothing in particular is done.Other setting values for "Modification" include "Underline" (described later in Figure 4 (a)) to underline the character string, and There is such a thing as "overline," which refers to drawing a line on a line.

Reference numeral 42 in FIG. 3(C) is an output example when the text data in FIG. 3(a) is output to a color printer according to the format setting value 40 of the first printer in FIG. 3(b). In the figure,
The main heading 43a is printed in red, the subheading 43b is printed in green, and the rest of the text is printed in black.

Reference numeral 44 in FIG. 3(d) is an output example when the text data in FIG. 3(a) is output to a monochrome printer according to the format setting values of the second printer in FIG. 3(b). As shown in this figure, the main heading 45a1 and the subheading 45b are output in Gothic font, and the main text is output in Mincho font.

When outputting in color, major headings and subheadings are printed in a different color from the main text so that they stand out from the main text (Figure 3 (C)), but when outputting in black and white, the same effect can be achieved. , the heading is output in a different font from the main text.

This is a second example to explain the results. The head office is an example of a case where a black-and-white printer is used to output the original text of a color manuscript.

The document data in this example is the same as that in the first example (third printer) except for the format setting values for the black and white printer (second printer).
This is the same as in Figures (a) and (b)). FIG. 4(a) shows format data in this embodiment. As shown in this figure, the settings for the first printer are the same as in the first example. The setting values for the second printer are “
"Underline" is set, and the line spacing is set to be more spaced than when printing in color, so that it is convenient to write draft data by hand.Please note that the parts that are printed in color when printing in color are printed in black and white printers. If you decide to print with an underline when outputting the original manuscript, you can tell that the major headings and subheadings are printed in color even on a black-and-white output manuscript.

The output example to the color printer in the second example is the same as the first example (FIG. 3(C)). Figure 4 (b), (c)
shows an example of the output results to a monochrome printer in the second example. 50.51 in the figure is this output result. As shown in this figure, the major heading 52a1 and the small heading 52b are printed with underlining, and the line spacing of the main text is wider than that of the color printer output (Fig. 3 (C)). This is suitable for manually writing draft data on the hour.

[Processing Procedure] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure when printing document data with a printer in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, before starting the process shown in FIG. 5, the operator explains in advance how to specify which document data is to be output by which device number printer. First, the document data specified in step SIO is read from the magnetic disk 4 into the memory 3. Next, in step Sll, the printer type of the printer, that is, the printer characteristics, is determined based on the device number of the specified output printer from the printer type table 20 in the EEROM 2. In step S12, the output printer type is determined, and if the output is to a color printer (in the case of "color")
Next, step S13 is executed, and if the output is to a monochrome printer (in the case of "monochrome"), then step S14 is executed.

In step S13, the text data is transferred to the first printer (
Color output is performed to a color printer according to the format data of the color printer. In step S14, regarding the format data of the second printer in the format data 31.40 in the memory 3, the CPU checks whether or not a value other than the color that can be output by the printer is set in the color specification item.
will check. In this example, the items that can be specified in color in the format are the main heading, subheading, and font color in the main text (Figure 3 (b), Figure 4 (a)), but are not limited to these. By adding a color specification item, it becomes possible to specify a font color for any format item. In step S15, if it is determined in step S14 that a color that cannot be output by the output printer is set, the format data needs to be corrected, so step S16 is performed next, and only colors that can be output by the output printer are set. If it has been set, select a process on the CPUI to perform step S17 next. In step S16, items related to color designation are corrected using the keyboard 5 or the like while displaying format data on the display device 6 so as to be outputtable to a black and white printer. In this embodiment, if a color other than black or white is specified, that color is changed to black. In step SI7, text data is output in accordance with the format for black and white printers. Furthermore, if the output device is a printer capable of outputting multiple colors, the parts that need to be corrected within the range of colors that can be output are changed as needed.

The format data may be modified in step S16 by modifying the original format data or by creating temporary modified format data. - If the modified format data is created, this modified format data is used in the output in step S17. Steps 314-S16
This process may be performed at the time of creating the format data. If these processes are performed when creating the format data, only black or white can always be set for items related to color specification in the format data for the second printer (monochrome printer).

In step S17, when outputting, if there is data other than text with color specification in the document data (for example, color image data, etc.), it is converted to black and white display data according to the shading and output.

This embodiment has described a method for suitably outputting document data created for color printer output to a monochrome printer. However, the present invention is not limited to outputting to a printer. The two output devices, the first printer and the second printer, in the format data 31 may be any output device other than a printer as long as it can output text data according to the format. For example, you can specify a display instead of the second printer, display the text in a format with a large font size suitable for editing work, and send the final print to the printer (first printer). The present invention can also be applied to the purpose of printing in a format suitable for.

In this embodiment, format data suitable for each of two output devices (a first printer and a second printer) can be set. However, the number of output devices in the present invention is not limited to two. Even when there are three or more types of output devices, if format data can be set for each of them, the present invention can be used to suitably output to each of the three or more output devices. .

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the output mode of document data is set for example for a monochrome output device separately from the case where the output mode is output from a color output device. By setting different colors, it is possible to obtain an effect that suits the original purpose of emphasis even on a document output using a monochrome output device.

According to the present invention, by displaying output modes that are differentiated and set according to the type of output device on the display device, and by manually setting the output mode of the format, a ready-made image for each printer can be created. Instead, it becomes possible to output in a unique output mode at any given time.

According to the present invention, the output mode can be set differently depending on the type of output device, so if you decide to output the composition manuscript from a monochrome printer and set the format of the monochrome printer to a mode suitable for the composition manuscript, , when outputting from a single-color printer, it is possible to output a document that suits the purpose without changing the format, such as by increasing the line spacing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the document processing device in this embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a printer type table in this embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a first example of document data and output results in this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a second example of document data and output results in this embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in this embodiment. In the figure, l is a CPU, 2 is an EEROM, 3 is a memory, 4 is a magnetic disk, 5 is a keyboard, 6 is a display device, 7 is a selector, 8 is a color printer, 10 is a monochrome printer, 2
0 is a printer type table, and 31 is format data. V = Ralo (a)

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A setting means for setting a format corresponding to the characteristics of a plurality of output devices, a first determination means for determining the characteristics of the output device, and a format corresponding to the characteristics of the output device determined by the first determination means. A second determining means for determining whether or not output is possible with the output device; and an output control means for controlling output in the format when the second determining means determines that the format can be output. document processing device. (2) Set formats that correspond to the characteristics of multiple output devices,
A document processing method characterized by determining whether a format corresponding to an output device that outputs a document can be outputted by the output device, and outputting the document in the format if it is determined that the format can be outputted.