JPH05212914A - Image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an image processor which can identify printing data at high efficiency and output a required printing result through a printer. CONSTITUTION:An image processor is provided with an assignment part 14 for assigning an area to be identified prior to the identification of received printing data; an identification part 5 for identifying input data within the area assigned by the assignment part 14; an analysis part 7 for analyzing the printing data on the basis of the result identified by the identification part 5; an output part 11 for outputting data analytically generated by the analysis part 7; and a printing mechanism 12 for conducting printing in accordance with the data outputted from the output part 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, and more particularly to an image processing apparatus which performs a predetermined process according to input print data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various kinds of application software have become available on a host computer. However, for example, a printer supported by application A and a printer supported by application B may be different. More precisely, when an application outputs print data, the key is whether the code system (printer language) of the print data can be interpreted by the connected printer. Therefore, depending on the case, it is necessary to switch or reconnect the printer for each individual application.

Therefore, recently, a device that can interpret a plurality of code systems and emulates different printers is being commercialized.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the data flow of a conventional device of this type.

In the figure, 2 is an external device such as a host computer that outputs print data, 3 is a receiving unit for receiving data, 4 is a reception buffer for temporarily storing the received data, and 5 is received data. An identification unit for identifying the type of the data, a switching unit 6 for switching the following processes depending on the identification result, a plurality of analysis units 7 for analyzing the input data, 8
Is a page buffer for storing the analysis result, 9 is a developing unit for developing an output image such as a bit map memory based on the contents of the page buffer 8, 10 is a frame memory for storing the developed output image, and RAM (random access memory) ). Reference numeral 11 is an output unit that controls an output mechanism 12 that uses a laser beam or the like according to the frame memory 10, and 13 is a recording medium such as paper.

In the printing apparatus 1, the print data output from the external apparatus 2 is received by the data receiving unit 3 and is sent to the RAM.
It is stored in the upper reception buffer 4. The identification unit 5 examines the characteristics of the data in the reception buffer 4 to determine which of the types (1 to N) of data that can be processed by this printing device corresponds, and notifies the switching unit 6 of the result. The switching unit 6 switches the following processing based on the identification result. That is, if the identification result of the identification unit 5 is the data n, the data is passed to the analysis unit 7 (n) corresponding to the data n. The analysis unit 7 analyzes the received data, and as a result, according to the data of the format that gives an instruction to the expansion unit 6, that is, the page buffer 8, the expansion unit 9 outputs the output image to, for example, one page of binary bit map memory. It is created (developed) in the form on the frame memory 10. Output unit 11
Outputs the content of the frame memory 10 to the output mechanism 12 as a video signal (a signal for controlling ON / OFF of the laser beam). As a result, the recording medium 13 such as paper
The print result is recorded in.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the identification target in the identification unit 5 is all types of data that can be processed by the printing apparatus, for example, when the types of data to be handled increase, If you have a lot of code system data with similar characteristics,
There is a drawback that the probability of correct identification (recognition rate) decreases. In other words, many types of data actually sent to the printer have similar characteristics,
At present, it is difficult to distinguish completely.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned prior art, and image processing that enables print data to be identified at a high rate and a desired printing result to be output by a printing apparatus. It is intended to provide a device.

To achieve this object, the image processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, in the image processing apparatus that processes the received print data and outputs the processed print data to a predetermined printing apparatus, an input unit that specifies the target to be identified of the input print data and the input within the range of the specified identification target are input. The printer includes an identification unit for identifying the print data, and an output unit for producing and outputting output data to the printing device based on the result of the identification by the identification unit.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image processing apparatus capable of identifying print data at a high rate and obtaining a desired print result.

To achieve this object, the image processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, in an image processing apparatus that records and outputs an image on a predetermined recording medium according to the received print data, an instruction means for instructing an object to be identified of the input print data and an input within the instructed identification target And a printing unit that generates output data on the printing device based on the result of the identification by the identification unit and prints an image on the predetermined recording medium.

[0012]

In the structure of the present invention as described above, the range to be identified is designated in advance by the designating means, and the print data received within the designated range is identified. Then, output data is generated based on the identified result, and output data is output to the printing apparatus or printing is performed by itself.

[0013]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the data flow of the printing apparatus in the embodiment.

The difference from the above-described conventional example is that an instruction unit 14 for instructing the type of data to be identified is added to the identification unit 5. The instruction unit 14 is a user interface that can be directly instructed by the user, and is configured by an operation panel, a dip switch, or the like.

In the printing apparatus 1 of this embodiment,
The user previously indicates the type of data to be identified by the identification unit 5 from the operation panel or the like.

When print data is received by the data receiving unit 3 from the external device 2 and stored in the reception buffer 4 on the RAM,
The identification unit 5 receives an instruction from the instruction unit 14 as to what kind of data is the target, examines the characteristics of the data in the reception buffer 4, and determines which of the instructed data types it corresponds to, Notify the switching unit 6.

If the type of the target data instructed by the instructing unit 14 is set to 1 to N1 and the identifying unit 5 determines the type of the received data to be n1, the switching unit 6 is informed to process the data n1. .. The switching unit 6 transfers the data to the analysis unit 7 (n1) corresponding to the data type n1. Subsequent processing is the same as the conventional one.

FIG. 3 shows an identification unit 5 when the present invention is implemented.
3 is a flowchart showing the processing in step S4. Prior to the following processing, the instruction unit (operation panel or the like) 14 instructs the code data system to be identified. For example, whether to emulate as a normal serial printer,
Specify whether to emulate as a page printer. However, this does not limit the present invention. For example, the printer code system is manufactured by A company, B
Since the printers manufactured by other companies may differ, the printers of the corresponding companies may be designated. In any case, when the type of the identification target is instructed, only m (m ≦ N) corresponding to the instructed contents are the analysis targets among the N analyzable targets. Therefore, the data for narrowing down each analysis target is stored in advance in the memory (not shown) as a table.

In step S11, first, the instructing unit 14 is inquired about the type of target data, and depending on the result, the target type of data is limited to m types (1 to m) in step S12. That is, although the apparatus of the embodiment can actually deal with N types of code systems, here, as described above, the number of targets to be identified according to the instructed contents is limited to m. In the embodiment, a table to be identified (hereinafter, this table will be referred to as an identification table) will be newly described.

Next, in step S13, the data in the reception buffer 4 is examined to extract its characteristics. In step S14, the initial value "1" is stored in the variable n representing the type of target data. Then, in step S15, step S
It is checked whether the feature extracted in 13 matches the nth feature of the identification table. When it is determined that the received data matches the nth code system of the identification table, the process ends there, one of the analysis units 7 corresponding to the nth data is selected, and the actual printing process is performed. ..

If it is determined that the data is not the nth data in the identification table, the process proceeds to step S16 and the variable n is incremented by "1" for comparison with the next code system. Then, in step S17, whether or not all the data in the identification table have been checked, that is,
It is determined whether or not “n> m” is satisfied. If it is determined that “n ≦ m”, the target to be checked remains, and the process returns to step S15. In this way, the above process is repeated until the corresponding code system is found. Even if the received data is compared with all the code systems in the identification table, if the corresponding code system is not found and the identification is unsuccessful, the process proceeds to step S18 and, for example, the identification result is converted into the default data. The process ends as type nn.

However, no pledge is given in the present invention to the specific feature extracting method of the data after step S13 and the determining method thereof. Any known method may be used, or a method based on a future code system may be used.

FIG. 4 shows a specific configuration of the printing apparatus of the embodiment.

In the figure, 100 is a printing apparatus of the embodiment,
A host computer 200 outputs print information. Reference numeral 101 is an input interface for inputting a printing apparatus from the host computer 200, and 102 is a CPU that controls the entire printing apparatus 100. 103 is a CPU
The ROM stores the operation processing procedure of 102 (a program according to the flowchart of FIG. 3 and a program that actually analyzes data and performs a series of print processing), and also stores a character font pattern and the like. However, the ROM 103 also stores data for checking the N code systems. Reference numeral 104 denotes a work area of the CPU 102, a reception buffer for storing print data received from the host computer 200, and an RA used for storing a page buffer after saving an output image for one page from the received print information.
It is M. The RAM 103 also has an area for storing the identification table and the variable n described above. Reference numeral 105 is a frame memory for expanding an output image, which is also composed of a RAM. Reference numeral 106 denotes an output interface for outputting an output image to an output unit 107 that actually prints, and reference numeral 108 denotes a panel interface for a user to give an instruction. Each of these components is connected to the system bus 109.

[Other Embodiments] In the above-described embodiments, the operator is instructed to indicate the identification target by the operation panel or the dip switch attached to the apparatus itself, but the present invention is not limited to this. Absent.

For example, a predetermined control command data may be instructed before the host computer outputs the print data. Therefore, in this case, FIG.
An interface such as 108 is not necessarily required. For example, the receiving unit 3 checks whether the received data is instruction command data, and if it is instruction command data, the instruction unit 1
4, the data may be passed to 4, and the instruction unit 14 may recognize the type of the target data from the data. The following can perform the same processing.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the target of the code system to be identified is instructed and the received data is identified within the instructed range. Can be limited.

As described above, in order to instruct the code system, the code system itself may be instructed, or indirectly, which company's printer is targeted. You may do it. Even if the printers have the same code system, the printable paper size may be different for each printer. Therefore, the print paper size may be used for the instruction.

Although the printer has been described as an example in the embodiment, the device of the present invention may be an independent device located between the host computer and the printer. That is,
Analyze the data sent from the host computer,
This is because it may be a device that generates and outputs data (for example, image data) that can be printed by the printer.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to identify print data at a high rate and output a desired print result with a printing apparatus.

According to another invention, it is possible to identify print data at a high rate and obtain a desired print result.

[0033]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a flow of processing in an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a conventional printing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing processing of an identification unit in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a specific configuration diagram of the printing apparatus according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 printing device 2 external device 3 receiving unit 4 receiving buffer 5 identifying unit 6 switching unit 7 analyzing unit 8 page buffer 9 expanding unit 10 frame memory 11 output unit 12 output mechanism 13 recording medium 14 instruction unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus which processes received print data and outputs the processed print data to a predetermined printing apparatus, and an instruction means for instructing an object to be identified by the input print data, and a range within the instructed identification object. An image processing apparatus comprising: an identification unit that identifies input print data; and an output unit that produces output data to the printing apparatus based on a result identified by the identification unit and outputs the output data. 2. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instruction unit gives an instruction by a predetermined switch provided outside. 3. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instruction unit issues an instruction based on a control code sent from an external device which is a print data generating source. 4. In an image processing apparatus for recording and outputting an image on a predetermined recording medium according to received print data, an instruction means for instructing an object to be identified of the input print data, and within the range of the instructed identification object. And an identification unit that identifies the input print data, and a printing unit that generates output data in the printing device based on the result identified by the identification unit and prints an image on the predetermined recording medium. An image processing device characterized by. 5. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the instruction unit gives an instruction by a predetermined switch provided outside. 6. The image processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the instruction unit issues an instruction based on a control code sent from an external device that is a print data generation source.