JPH05113857A - Document processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the document processing system which display characters according to character patterns printed on a printer and make the display contents and print result completely correspond to each other. CONSTITUTION:A CPU 1 and a printer 14 in a document processor are connected by an interface 3 where data flow in two directions. The document processor outputs a request to read font data to the printer 14. Consequently, the CPU in the printer transfers its font data to the side of the document processor.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a document processing device, and more particularly to a document processing system including a document processing device and a printing device for printing a document.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Normally, when a document created by this type of device is printed out, various control commands and character codes relating to printing are sent to the printing device. The printing device analyzes the content of the received print data and reads the character pattern corresponding to the character code from the font ROM according to the instructed control command. When the printing device is a type of device that prints while moving the carriage in a scanning motion, a bit image recorded by one scanning motion of the carriage is created in the buffer memory, and in the case of a page printer, one page is printed. Performs the process of expanding the minute image in the buffer memory. In this way, when the expansion of the image data to be recorded into the memory is completed, the image data is sequentially read from the memory and the actual printing process is executed.

Although there are apparatuses or systems that directly output image data from a document processing apparatus to a printing apparatus and perform printing using the image data, considering the amount of information related to data transfer and the load on the document processing apparatus, Many document processing devices output the former data format, that is, a character code, to a printing device.

[0004]

By the way, on the side of the document processing apparatus, it is possible to confirm in what state printing is performed before the print output processing (processing for outputting print data to the printing apparatus). Often. Normally, in response to such a request, the layout and the like are displayed using a character pattern provided in the document processing apparatus itself.

Strictly speaking, however, what is displayed on the side of the document processing apparatus is that it is displayed with its own character pattern, so there is a possibility that it may differ from the case of actual printing. In particular, when an external character is registered in the document processing apparatus, a meaningless pattern may be recorded even if the character code is output as print data, or another pattern registered in the printing apparatus itself may be recorded.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and it is a document processing that makes it possible to display a character based on a character pattern printed by a printing device and to make the displayed contents correspond to the printed result completely. It is intended to provide a system.

[0007]

In order to solve this problem, the document processing system of the present invention has the following configuration.
That is, in a document processing system including a document processing apparatus and a printing apparatus for printing a document, the document processing apparatus is provided with connection means for connecting data so that data flows bidirectionally between the document processing apparatus and the printing apparatus. The processing device outputs a signal for requesting transfer of font data provided in the printing device to the printing device via the connecting means, and the processing device transfers the signal from the printing device via the connecting means. The printing device includes means for storing font data in a predetermined storage medium, and when the printing device receives a font data transfer request signal through the connection means, the printing device prints the font data provided by itself through the connection means. A transfer means for transferring to the processing device is provided.

[0008]

In the structure of the present invention, the font data stored in the printing device is transferred to the document processing device, and the characters are displayed by using the transferred font.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the document processing apparatus of this embodiment. In the figure, 1 is a CPU that controls the entire apparatus, and 2 is a program memory (PME) that stores the control processing procedure of the CPU 1 as a program.
M) and 3 indicate communication I / Fs (interfaces) that enable transmission / reception means such as SCSI. Reference numeral 4 is a keyboard, 5 is a pointing device, and 6 is a KEY I / F (keyboard interface) that enables connection between the keyboard 4 and the pointing device 5. 7 is a system bus for transmitting address signals, data and control signals inside the device, 8 is a display device (CR
T) and 9 are VRAMs (video RAMs). 10 is a floppy disk drive for storing created documents, 11 is a hard disk drive that stores system programs and various data, 12 is the floppy disk drive 10 or the hard disk drive 11 on the system bus 7. DISK I / F to connect
(Disk interface). A font memory 13 has a capacity to store a phone and data input from the outside in addition to phone data prepared in advance in the document processing apparatus itself. Reference numeral 14 is a printing apparatus in the embodiment, which is connected via the communication interface 3 described above.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the printing device 14 of the embodiment. In the figure, 15 is a system for transmitting address signals, data signals, and control signals inside the printer.
Show the bus. Reference numeral 16 is a CPU for controlling the printing apparatus, and 17 is a program memory (PMEM) that stores the control processing procedure of the CPU 16. Reference numeral 18 denotes a DISK I / F (disk drive) for connecting a floppy disk drive 19 or a hard disk drive 20 storing font data to the system bus 15, for example.
Interface). Therefore, a plurality of character font patterns are stored in the floppy disk drive 19 or the hard disk drive 20, and print output using a desired character pattern is possible. A communication I / F 21 is connected to a host, that is, a communication I / F 3 (interface) of the document processing apparatus, receives print data from the document processing apparatus, and vice versa. It is also possible to output to. Reference numeral 22 denotes an IMEM (image memory) for expanding the data to be sent to the print engine, which will be described later, and reference numeral 23 denotes the print engine for performing the steps of actually outputting the data expanded on the IMEM 22 to paper.

In the above-mentioned configuration, the document processing apparatus of the embodiment displays the character pattern displayed on the display device 8 with the character pattern provided in the printing device 14 when receiving a predetermined instruction from the operator. Is what you are trying to do. In order to realize this, the printing apparatus 14 of the embodiment and this apparatus employ an interface capable of transmitting and receiving, and when a predetermined command is output to the printing apparatus 14, the printing apparatus 14 has a character pattern provided therein. Is read out and output to the document processing apparatus. The CPU 1 sequentially stores the sent character pattern in a predetermined area of the font memory 13. Then, the display device 8 uses the character pattern sent from the printing device 14 instead of the character previously provided by the device itself for display. still,
Various menus and messages displayed by the document processing device itself may be displayed in a character pattern obtained from the printing device, but since such messages and the like are not related to the actual document, the pattern provided by the device itself is used. Is desirable. Hereinafter, the processing content will be described in detail.

First, the flow of the font registration process of the printing device in the document processing device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

In this document processing apparatus, when displaying characters on the screen, the font data in the apparatus is generally used for display. However, when a predetermined instruction is given to display the font data of the printing apparatus on the screen, for example, A window as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed (step S1).

When the font data of the printing device is read into the document processing device, the pointing device 5 is used.
Is operated to select the "Yes" button 51 by clicking, and if not, the "No" button 52 is selected (step S2).

If "No" is selected, the process is terminated. If "Yes" is selected, the process proceeds to step S3 to execute the following process.

The CPU 1 in the document processing apparatus has a communication I / F.
A font data read request command is sent to the printer 14 side via step 3 (step S3). C in the printing device 14
When the PU 16 receives this command via its own communication I / F 21, it issues a command to the hard disk 20 in which the font data is stored to a free area on the PMEM 17 via the DISK I / F 18. Send (step S4). If the capacity of the font data exceeds the free capacity of the PMEM 17, the font data is transferred to the PMEM 17 separately.

When the font data is transferred to the PMEM 17 in this way, the CPU 16 causes the document processing device (CPU 1) to operate.
A data transmission start request signal is output to (step S6).

CPU in the document processing device that receives this command
Reference numeral 1 returns a command to the CPU 16 in the printer to inform that it is in the font data reception preparation state (step S).
7). After that, the CPU 16 in the printing apparatus starts transmitting a certain amount of font data (step S8).

When the CPU 1 in the document processing device receives the font data sent from the printing device and completes the storage in the font MEM 13 in the document processing device, the font data is sent to the printing device to receive the next data. An instruction to notify the completion of data reception is sent (step S9).

The above processing is performed by the CPU in the printing apparatus.
This is repeated until 16 sends a command informing the end of transmission of the final font data.

In the operation of step S5, when the font data is divided and transferred to the PMEM 17 in the printing apparatus, the remaining data is read and output, so that steps S6 to S10 are executed. The process will be repeated.

By the above operation (steps S1 to S10), the font data of the printing device is stored in the font MEM13 in the document processing device.

The document processing apparatus has a new font MEM1.
When the font data stored in No. 3 is displayed on the display device 8 of the document processing apparatus, for example, a window as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed (step S11), and the pointing device 5 is used to press the button 55 "in the printing apparatus". By clicking "Font" (step S12) and designating the font data possessed by the printing device, the font data can be displayed on the display device 8 of the document processing device. That is, when the CPU 1 displays a character, PM
The corresponding font pattern from the printing device stored in the EM 13 is expanded in the VRAM 9.

Note that the processing in FIG. 2 shows the processing contents when the document processing apparatus and the printing apparatus of the embodiment are combined, and the programs that they handle are PMEM2 and PM.
It is stored in the EM17. This also applies to the examples shown below.

[Second Embodiment] In the above-described embodiment (first embodiment), the font data stored in the printer is stored in the hard disk 20 of the printer, and the printer is used. However, in this embodiment (second embodiment), the font data of the printing apparatus is stored in the FONT ROM 24 in the printing apparatus, which will be described later.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

In the figure, 15 to 17 and 21 to 2
3 is the same as in FIG. Reference numeral 24 denotes a ROM that stores font data. The block diagram of the document processing apparatus is similar to that of the first embodiment.

The flow of processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The flow of the processing is shown in FIG.

In the present document processing apparatus, generally, when displaying characters, the font data in the apparatus is used for display, but when the font data possessed by the printing apparatus 14 is displayed on the screen, for example, a window as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. (Step S21).

When the font data of the printing device is read into the document processing device, the pointing device 5 is used.
To select the "Yes" button 51 by clicking, and when not reading, click the "No" button 52 to select (Step S22).

If "No" is selected, the process is terminated. If "Yes" is selected, the process proceeds to step S23 to execute the following process.

The CPU 1 in the document processing apparatus has a communication I / F.
A command for a font data read request is sent to the printer 14 side via step 3 (step S23). When the CPU 16 in the printing device 14 receives this command via its own communication I / F 21, it immediately sends a data transmission start request to the document processing device side (step S24).

That is, in the first embodiment described above, the processing of reading a predetermined amount of data from the hard disk into the memory and outputting it to the document processing apparatus side was performed, but in the second embodiment, the processing during this period is performed. Can be simplified.

When the document processing apparatus (CPU 1) receives a data transmission start request from the printing apparatus, it returns a command notifying that it is in the font data reception preparation state (step S25). After that, the CPU 16 in the printing apparatus starts transmitting a certain amount of font data (step S26).

When the CPU 1 in the document processing device receives the font data sent from the printing device and completes the storage in the font MEM 13 in the document processing device, the font data is sent to the printing device to receive the next data. An instruction to notify the completion of data reception is sent (step S27).

The above processing is performed by the CPU in the printing apparatus.
This is repeated until 16 sends a command informing the end of transmission of the final font data.

Next, in this way, the font M of the document processing apparatus is set.
When the font data in the printing device stored in the EM 13 is displayed on the display device 8, for example, a window as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed (S29), and the pointing device 5 is used to press the button 55 “in printing device”. By clicking "Font" (S30) and designating the font data possessed by the printing device, the font data can be displayed on the display device 8 of the document processing device.

[Third Embodiment] In the third embodiment, the font data of the printing apparatus is read into the hard disk 11 in the document processing apparatus. The flow of processing will be described below with reference to FIG.

In the document processing apparatus, when displaying characters on the screen, the font data in the apparatus is generally used for display. When the font data possessed by the printing apparatus is displayed on the screen, for example, a window as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. (Step S41).

When the font data of the printing device is read into the document processing device, the pointing device 5 is used.
To select the “Yes” button 51, and when not reading, click the “No” button 52.

If "No" is selected, the process is terminated. If "Yes" is selected, the process proceeds to step S43 to execute the following process.

The CPU 1 in the document processing apparatus has a communication I / F.
A command for a font data read request is sent to the printing device 14 via 3 (step S43). When the CPU 16 in the printing device 14 receives this command via its own communication I / F 21, the CPU 16 in the PMEM 17 stores the font data in the hard disk 20 in which the font data is stored via the DISK I / F 18. A command to read to the area is sent (step S44). If the capacity of the font data exceeds the free capacity of the PMEM 17, the font data is transferred to the PMEM 17 separately.

When the font data is transferred to the PMEM 17 in this way, the CPU 16 causes the document processing device (CPU 1) to operate.
A data transmission start request signal is output to (step S45).

CPU in the document processing apparatus which received this command
Reference numeral 1 returns a command to the CPU 16 in the printer to inform that it is in the font data reception preparation state (step S).
46). After that, the CPU 16 in the printing apparatus starts transmitting a certain amount of font data (step S47).

When the CPU 1 in the document processing apparatus receives the font data sent from the printing apparatus and stores the font data in PMEM2 in the document processing apparatus, the font data is sent to the printing apparatus to receive the next data. An instruction to notify the completion of data reception is sent (step S48).

The above processing is repeated until the CPU 16 in the printing apparatus sends a command to notify the end of transmission of the final font data (step S49). However, when the font data in the printing apparatus is divided and sent, the control is performed so as to repeat the processing of steps S45 to S49 (step S50).

Thus, the PMEM 2 in the document processing device 2
When the font data is stored in, the data is transferred to the hard disk 20 (step S51). In order to display the font data existing in the printing device, which is newly stored in the hard disk 20 in the document processing device, on the display device 8, for example, a window as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed (step S52), and pointing is performed.・ Device 5
By using the button 55, the button 55 "Font in printer" is clicked (step S53), and the font data possessed by the printer is designated.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the character pattern printed by the printing device can be displayed on the display device of the document processing device, it is possible to completely correspond the display content and the print result. ..

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to display a character based on the character pattern printed by the printing device, and to make the displayed contents correspond to the printed result completely.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a document processing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block configuration diagram of a printing apparatus connected to the document processing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing contents in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a window of an embodiment displayed when the font data in the printing apparatus is read.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a window displayed when selecting a font type used in the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing processing contents in the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing contents in the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 16 CPU 2, 17 Program memory (PMEM) 3, 21 Communication I / F 4 Keyboard 5 Pointing device 6 Keyboard interface 7, 15 System bus 8 Display device (CRT) 9 Video RAM 10, 19 Floppy disk drive 11 , 20 hard disk drive 12 disk interface 13 font memory 14 printing device 18 disk interface 22 image memory (IMEM) 23 print engine 24 font ROM

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A document processing system comprising a document processing device and a printing device for printing a document, comprising connection means for connecting the document processing device and the printing device so that data can flow bidirectionally. The document processing apparatus outputs a signal for requesting transfer of font data provided in the printing apparatus to the printing apparatus via the connection unit, and transfers from the printing apparatus via the connection unit. The printing device comprises means for storing the font data thus obtained in a predetermined storage medium. When the printing device receives a font data transfer request signal via the connection means, the printing device stores the font data provided therein by the connection means. A document processing system comprising: a transfer unit for transferring the document to a document processing apparatus via the document processing apparatus.