JPH06202825A - Page description language processor and page description language processing output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily perform outputting at the many kinds of output devices and to provide a real-time previewer for performing a real-time plotting opera tion in a picture display device. CONSTITUTION:This page description language processor is provided with page description language processing and abstract graphics processing parts 101 and 102 for preparing abstract graphic data not depending on the characteristics and kinds of output devices by analyzing document data (a page description language program), described in a page description language, and output processing parts 105-107 for preparing image data to be outputted based on these prepared abstract graphic data. Further, an output managing part 104 for switching and controlling the output processing parts being the output destinations of the language processing and abstract graphics processing parts 101 and 102.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a page description language processing device and a page description language processing output device for processing and outputting an image programmed in a page description language.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, output devices incorporating a page description language processing system have come into wide use. Most of them use a printing device such as a laser beam printer as an output.
These conventional page description language processing output devices are generally realized by the configuration shown in FIG. 13 and the processing flow shown in FIG. In other words, this is the language interpretation of the input data (page description language program) in the language processing unit, and it is passed to the graphics processing unit as a graphics command such as drawing a line or drawing a circle. In the graphics processing unit, parameters are set in the table according to the parameter setting command, graphics data is constructed according to the graphics construction command, and the parameters and graphics data set above according to the drawing command are transferred to the frame buffer. Bitmap drawing is performed, read from the frame buffer according to the page output command, and transferred to the output device.

By the way, the page description language has come to be used as an output data format of a document processing application installed in a workstation.
This is because it is possible to perform operations with a high degree of freedom, such as drawing complicated figures and outputting characters of arbitrary size in a format that does not depend on the specifications (resolution or color processing method) of the output device. As a result, recently, not only printing devices but also screen display devices (graphics displays) have been targeted as output devices.

With the support of such various output devices, WYSIWYG (What You See Is Is) is used for editing while viewing an image at the same level as the print output.
Realization of What You Get) and a previewer that uses a page description language processing output device to preview the output on a screen with no printing cost before outputting it to a color printer with high running cost. Became possible.

Regarding the page description language processing system for displaying a screen, computer software, Vol. 5, N
o. 4 (1988.10.14), Iwanami Shoten (edited by Japan Society for Software Science and Technology), Haruhisa Ishida, "Page Description Language for Desktop Publishing, PostScript" pp. Explanation is given in 2-11. A page description language processing system is also proposed in "Page Description Language Display Confirmation Device" of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-127197.

Various proposals have been made for a method of performing output processing to a plurality of output devices. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 16626/1990, "Printer Output Control Method",
There are publications such as JP-A-2-101526, "Printer Output Redirection Circuit", and JP-A-4-127197, "Page Description Language Display Confirmation Device." Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-1
Japanese Patent No. 6626 describes that a plurality of printer devices are provided, a management mechanism for managing the printer devices is provided, the printer device to be output is determined by this, and the print data is output by the output processing mechanism. There is. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-101526 discloses a technique in a personal computer having a plurality of output devices including a printer, in which data to the printer is redirected to another output device by a hardware interrupt. . In addition, JP-A-4-127197
The publication "Page Description Language Display Confirmation Device" describes that a page description language program is interpreted and executed to generate an image for printing, and the image is processed so that it can be displayed on a display device. ing. WYSIWYG and the previewer can be realized by these conventional methods.

As a method for supporting a plurality of output devices in one processing system, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-98928, "Computer System" has been devised. In this method, a printer is managed by a computer system, and a processing program for each printer is managed in a table and is switched and output.

[0008]

It is possible to realize WYSIWYG and a previewer by the conventional page description language processing system for displaying a screen. However, if an attempt is made to realize a print processing step in which an image is actually checked on the screen display device and then output by the printing device, two completely independent page description language processes for screen display and printing are used. A printing device is required, which is disadvantageous in terms of cost.

As a possible method for solving this problem, the page description language processing system for one of the output devices is modified so that the raster data (bitmap data) required by the output device can be taken out. Then, a method of converting the extracted data for another output device and processing it is conceivable. This is possible because most modern output devices use a framebuffer for display.
This is because it has a page buffer that holds bitmap data for the screen, and employs a method of reading and outputting from this buffer.

However, this method can be easily realized when the two output devices have the frame buffers of almost the same specifications, but a method (band buffer) in which resolutions and color expressions are different or one screen is not held It is often difficult to implement it on a heterogeneous output device such as the device (1).

The WYSIW is also applicable to the above-described method of performing output processing to a plurality of output devices (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-16626 and others).
YG and previewers can be realized. However, that method has the following problems.

The first problem is that when an attempt is made to realize a print processing step in which an image is confirmed on the screen display device and then output by the printing device, it is completely independent for the screen display and the printing. This is disadvantageous in terms of cost because it requires two page description language processing systems.

The second problem is that when WYSIWYG editing is performed, a request to view the drawing status in real time may occur, but since the page description language outputs all at once in response to a page output command, an image for one page is displayed. Can not be confirmed unless the above is completed, and it is difficult to realize the interactive WYSIWYG processing work.
The previewer that can check the drawing status in real time instead of page units is named here as real-time previewer.

The third problem is that the data described by the page description language does not originally determine the output device and can be output to any output device, but it realizes multiple outputs. However, the conventional method (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-16626) is premised on incorporating the printer and the printer group identifier in the input data.

In the above-mentioned system in which one processing system supports a plurality of output devices (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-98928), the output devices can be switched, but the processing programs for each output device are all computer system main bodies. Since it has in-house, if a large number of devices are supported, a large amount of storage device is required in the main body. In addition, since it is built in the computer system, if an output device is to be shared by a plurality of computer systems, this system must be mounted on each computer system, which is disadvantageous in this respect.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems of the prior art.

That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a page description language processing device which can easily output to various output devices.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a page description language processing output device capable of directly outputting an image output to one output device to another output device.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a page description language output device capable of easily performing a previewer by simultaneously using a screen display device and a printing device as output devices.

Another object of the present invention is to realize a real-time previewer capable of easily performing real-time drawing operation on an output device (especially a screen display device) in a page description language output device. Is.

Another object of the present invention is not only to enable output to various output devices in a page description language output device, but also to reduce the size of the system to a minimum when implementing the same. .

[0022]

A page description language processing apparatus according to the present invention (Claim 1) interprets document data (page description language program) described in a page description language to determine characteristics and types of an output apparatus. First creating means (101, 102 in FIG. 1, 901, 902 in FIG. 9, 1101, 1102 in FIG. 11) for creating independent graphic data
And second creating means (105, 106, 107 in FIG. 1, 905, 906 in FIG. 9) for creating image data to be output based on the abstract graphic data created by the first creating means. 11 of FIG. 11).

The page description language processing output device of the present invention (claim 2) is a plurality of types of output devices (111 and 11 in FIG. 1).
2, 113, 909 and 910 in FIG. 9, and 110 in FIG.
7, 1108, 1109) and the document data described in the page description language to create abstract graphic data independent of the characteristics and type of the output device (101, 102 in FIG. 1, 901 and 902 in FIG. 9 and FIG.
1101, 1102 of No. 1) and a plurality of types of second creating means (105, 106, 107 in FIG. 1) for creating image data to be output based on the abstract graphic data for each of the plurality of types of output devices. , 905 and 906 in FIG. 9, and FIG.
1105) and selection means (104 in FIG. 1, 904 in FIG. 9, 1104 in FIG. 11) for selecting the output destination of the first creating means based on the selection information.

The page description language processing device of the present invention (claim 3) is a plurality of types of output devices (111, 112 in FIG. 1,
113, 909 and 910 in FIG. 9, and 1107 and 1 in FIG.
108, 1109) and the document data described in the page description language to create abstract graphic data that does not depend on the characteristics and type of the output device (FIG. 1).
101, 102, 901, 902 in FIG. 9, 1 in FIG.
101, 1102) and buffer means (103 in FIG. 1, 903 in FIG. 9, and FIG. 11) for storing the abstract graphic data.
1103), and a plurality of types of second creating means (104 of FIG. 1, FIG. 9) for creating image data to be output based on the abstract graphic data for each of the plurality of types of output devices.
904, 1104 in FIG. 11) and selection means (105, 106, 107 in FIG. 1, 905, 90 in FIG. 9) for selecting the output destination of the abstracted graphic data based on the selection information.
6, 1105 in FIG. 11) and interruption / cancellation means (104 in FIG. 1, 904 in FIG. 9) for interrupting / releasing the output of the abstract graphic data to the second creating means based on the interruption / cancellation information. , 1104 in FIG. 11).

The page description language processing device of the present invention (claim 4) is a plurality of output devices (909 and 910 in FIG. 9).
And first creating means (901 and 902 in FIG. 9) for interpreting the document data described in the page description language and creating abstract graphic data independent of the characteristics and type of the output device.
A buffer means (903 in FIG. 9) for storing the abstracted graphic data; and a plurality of types of second image data to be output based on the abstracted graphic data for each of the plurality of types of output devices. Creating means (905, 90 in FIG. 9)
6), selection means (904 in FIG. 9) for selecting the output destination of the abstract graphic data based on the selection information, and the abstract graphic data for each predetermined data unit based on the real-time previewer instruction. And a control means (904 in FIG. 9) for outputting to the second creating means.

According to the page description language processing apparatus of the present invention (Claim 5), in the above invention (Claims 2 to 4), at least one kind of second creating means of the plurality of kinds of second creating means is , Storage means of its own device (23 in FIG. 2) or storage means on the network connected to its own device (1 in FIG. 11).
110, 127) shown in FIG. 12 and is obtained by reading and executing the processing program.

[0027]

A page description language processing apparatus according to the present invention (claim 1) interprets and executes a page description language program, which is performed by a conventional page description language processing apparatus, and generates an image to be output. The process is divided into two parts, and the first creating means and the second creating means process each process. The process depending on the characteristics and type of the output device, for example, the process performed by using the data of the characteristics and the type of the output device, such as the expansion of the figure into the bitmap and the color setting process,
And the other processing is performed by the first creating means. In the first creating means, when interpreting and executing the input page description language program, the processing depending on the characteristics and type of the output device, which is performed by the conventional page description language processing device, is not performed, but the abstracted figure is executed. Create the data. The second creating means creates image data to be output based on the abstract graphic data. The abstract graphic data mentioned here is data of a graphic drawing method represented by a pair of a combination (coupling) of graphic elements and parameters that does not depend on the characteristics or type of the output device. Note that this also includes character fonts.

According to the present invention (Claim 1), the first creating means creates the abstracted data that does not depend on the characteristics or type of the output device, and the second creating means creates the first creating means. Of the functions of the conventional page description language processing, such as the expansion into the data format required by the output device based on the abstracted data, the processing function portion depending on the characteristics and type of the output device is used as the second creating means. By separating and independently, the common processing part and the unique processing part become clear for a plurality of types of output devices. Therefore, when using a plurality of output devices, it is not necessary to prepare an independent page description language processing unit for each output device, and the first creating unit, which is one common processing unit, and the unique processing for each output device. Since it is only necessary to prepare the second creating unit, which is a unit, it is possible to easily support various output devices, and it is possible to reduce the size of the system to the minimum when implementing it. Further, there is an advantage in cost as compared with the related art, and there is also an advantage that only a unique processing unit is required for adding an output device.

In the present invention (claim 2), a plurality of types of output devices are provided, and one of the output devices is selectively used for output. At that time, the selecting means selects the second creating means corresponding to the output destination of the first creating means, that is, the output device specified by the selecting information, based on the selection information. Thereby, the second creating means prepared for each output device can be changed at any time, and the document data once input can be output to a plurality of different output devices. In that case, since the processing of the first creating means is common, it is not necessary to perform the processing again each time the output device is changed, and only the second creating means needs to be processed. Can be shortened.

In the present invention (claim 3), the interruption / cancellation means outputs the abstract graphic data created by the first creation means to the second creation means based on the interruption / cancellation information. It can be suspended or unsuspended. For example, if the output device is interrupted by interruption information instructing to interrupt the output when a page output command is detected, the output device is switched from the printing device to the screen display device by the selection means, and then the output is canceled by the interruption cancellation information, the screen display is performed. It is possible to output to the device. Similarly, if the output is switched to the printing device based on the interruption / cancellation information and then the output is started again, the output of the preview and the printing is performed twice by one page description language processing. Can be realized.

In the present invention (claim 4), when the real-time previewer instruction is given, the control means makes a second creation of the abstract graphic data for every predetermined data unit, for example, every time there is a drawing command. Output to the means. Normally, in the page description language processing device, output to the output device is made every time there is a page output command, but in the present invention, when a real-time previewer instruction is given, output to the screen display device is made for each drawing unit. To do. As a result, the display is performed for each drawing unit instead of the usual page unit, so that real-time drawing can be performed on the screen display device.

A page description language processing apparatus of the present invention (Claim 5) reads out a processing program from at least one kind of second creating means of the second creating means in the above invention (Claims 2 to 4). It is something that is obtained by executing. The processing program may be stored in the storage device of the own device or may be stored in the storage device on the network connected to the own device, for example, on a network server, and has a flexible design when configuring the system. Is possible. Further, by placing the processing program on the network server, the system can be stored in the minimum size.

[0033]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the function of a page description language processing output device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This apparatus interprets input data described in a page description language, that is, a page description language program, and forms a page description language processing section 1 as a first creating section for forming abstract image data.
01 and the abstract graphics processing unit 102,
Output processing units 105 to 10 are provided as a plurality of second creating units that process the abstract image data to generate and output an output image.
Equipped with 7. The apparatus also includes an abstract graphics page buffer 103 capable of storing one page of abstract data generated by the abstract graphics processing unit 102.
And an output management unit 1 for managing the output destination of the abstracted image data
04, frame buffers 108 and 109 for holding the output of the output processing units 105 and 106 for one page,
A band buffer 110 that holds the output of the output processing unit 107 for one band and a plurality of types of output devices 111 to 113 are provided.

The page description language processing unit 101 interprets the input data described in the page description language one by one, performs error processing, and the abstract graphics processing unit 1
The command is output to 02.

The abstract graphics processing unit 102 receives the command received from the page description language processing unit 101, that is,
Graphics parameter setting command, graphics data construction command, graphics drawing command,
Performs execution processing such as page output instructions.

The process in response to the graphics parameter setting command is a graphics parameter setting process. The parameters include a coordinate system, line width, end point shape, color, etc. (see FIG. 4). This parameter is used as an additional parameter when executing the drawing command.

The processing of the graphics data construction instruction is processing peculiar to the page description language, and constructs a combined graphics by combining graphics primitives. That is, a large number of simple figures (straight lines, arcs) are combined to construct a complicated figure. FIG. 5 shows an example thereof, and the abstract graphics data represents an example in which two straight lines are combined as a graphics primitive to construct an image in which a character font is arranged. As parameters, CurrentPosition, C
currentColor, LineJoin, Line
Width, LineCap, Currentfont
Is used. Fonts are treated like graphics. This operation is not performed in a format that depends on the output device, but the coordinate system and the like are all performed in a format that does not depend on the output device. The basic primitive is named segment,
Subpath, which is a collection of several segments,
The collected data is named path and is hierarchically managed as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 6, LineS
Subpath1 is configured by combining the element and the ConicSgment, and four LineSe are formed.
gpath is combined to form Subpath2, and these two subpaths are combined to form papath2.
th is configured.

The processing of the drawing instruction of the graphics data is performed by the abstract graphics page buffer 103 by combining the path constructed by the processing of the construction instruction of the graphics data and the additional parameter obtained by the processing of the parameter setting instruction. It is the process of writing. Pa when writing to the abstract graphics page buffer 103
The th is cleared and is constructed again by the next graphics construction instruction. The abstracted graphics page buffer 103 holds a plurality of paths given by the drawing command until the page output command is processed, and stores one page (see FIG. 7).

In the processing of the page output command, the output management unit 104 issues an output processing instruction to the output processing unit.

The output management unit 104 receives instructions from the abstract graphics processing unit 102 and from the external interface and performs processing. The instruction received from the abstract graphics processing unit 102 is a page output instruction, the instruction received from the external interface is an output interruption instruction when a page output instruction is detected,
These are a command to cancel output interruption upon detection of a page output command, a command to switch output devices, a command to start output, and the like.

The page output instruction is called from the abstract graphics processing unit 102 and normally issues an output instruction as it is to the output processing unit 15.

The output interruption instruction upon detection of a page output instruction is set so that the processing is temporarily interrupted when the page output instruction is received from the abstract graphics processing unit 102. After interruption by this function, output can be switched to the screen display device by the output device switching command and output by the output start command to display on the screen display device. Similarly, after that, if the output is switched to the printing device and then the output start is instructed again, the preview output and the print output can be performed twice by one page description language language processing.

The output interruption canceling command upon detection of the page output command is to restore the above function to the normal state.

The output device switching instruction gives an instruction as to which device is to be used as an output device in response to a request from the user. By providing a parallel processing function and designating a plurality of devices at the same time, it becomes possible to simultaneously output to a plurality of output devices.

The output start instruction is used when the processing is started from the state interrupted by the output interruption instruction upon detection of the page output instruction.

The output processing units 105, 106, and 107 receive the output instruction, the output interruption instruction, and the output restart instruction from the output management unit 104, and perform the output image formation.

When receiving the output instruction, the frame buffer 10 reads data from the abstract graphics page buffer 103, develops the data into the data format required by the output device, and outputs the data.
8, 109, write to band buffer 110. Most of the data formats are bitmap frames. After the expansion, output processing is performed while controlling the output device.

When receiving the output interruption instruction, the output processing unit stops its function. When the output restart instruction is received, the function is restarted.

FIG. 2 shows an outline of the hardware configuration of the first embodiment, which comprises an input device 21, a central processing unit 22, a storage device 23, and an output device 24. The storage device 23 includes a language processing program, an abstract graphics processing program, an output management program,
An output processing program is stored. By executing the language processing program on the central processing unit 22, the function of the page description language processing unit 101 of FIG. 1 is obtained, and the abstract graphics processing program is executed on the central processing unit 2.
The function of the abstract graphics processing unit 102 can be obtained by executing the processing in 2. Similarly, by executing the output management program and the output processing program, the output management unit 104 and the output processing units 105, 106 and 10 are respectively executed.
7 functions are realized. A plurality of output processing programs corresponding to each output device are stored in the storage device 23.

The operation of the page description language processing output device of the first embodiment constructed as above will be described. Figure 3
Shows the flow of the processing.

The input page description language program is
In the page description language processing unit 101, an error check is performed and the instructions are decomposed into individual commands and interpreted (step S31) and sent to the abstract graphics processing unit 102.

The abstract graphics processing unit 102 determines the type of the instruction sent from the page description language processing unit 101 (step S32), interprets and executes it (steps S33 to S36).

If the sent command is to set graphics parameters, the graphics parameters are set in the internal table (step S33). FIG. 4 shows an example of a graphics parameter, and illustrates the parameter name and the meaning of its value.

When the instruction sent from the page description language processing unit 101 is a graphics construction instruction, it is internally constructed in the form of abstract graphics data (step S34). Abstract graphics data is constructed incrementally until there is a drawing command. That is, a graphic is added to the graphic placed in front of it, a conversion operation is performed, etc., and when the drawing command comes at the end, it is output.

When the command sent from the page description language processing unit 101 is a drawing command, the constructed abstract graphics data is paired with the graphics parameter and written to the abstract graphics page buffer 103 ( Step S35). When the writing is completed, this data is cleared to prepare for the next drawing command. The abstract graphics page buffer 103 is also incrementally constructed similarly to the construction of the abstract graphics data, and the constructed graphics are held until the page output instruction comes.

If the command sent from the page description language processing unit 101 is a page output command, the output management unit 104
The output processing units 105, 106, and 107 are instructed to output the contents of the abstract graphics page buffer 103 according to the output device (step S36).

When the output processing units 105, 106 and 107 receive the output command through the output management unit 104, they read the data from the abstracted graphics page buffer (step S37) and convert the graphics parameters into values unique to the corresponding output device. Then, an output image is generated in the frame buffer for the output device (step S38). The generated image is displayed / printed on the output device (step S3).
9).

The above steps S31, S32 and S33 are performed for each graphics parameter setting command of the page description language.

The above steps S31, S32, and S34 are performed for each graphics construction instruction of the page description language.

The above steps S31, S32 and S35 are performed for each graphics drawing command of the page description language.

Steps S31, S32, S32, S
36, S37, S38, and S39 are performed for each page output command of the page description language.

Here, the function of the previewer by the processing of the output management unit 104 will be described with reference to FIG. Output management unit 1
When receiving a command from the abstract graphics processing unit 102 or from the external interface, 04 performs processing according to the command. Normally, the abstract graphics processing unit 1
Waiting for the page output command from 02, when the command comes, it issues an output start command to one of the plurality of output processing units 105, 106, 107.

On the other hand, the output management unit 104 outputs a command group for output management from the external interface, that is, an output device switching command, an output start command, a page output command detection interruption command, and a page output command detection interruption cancellation command. When it receives a message, etc., the corresponding process is performed.

When the output interruption command upon detection of the page output command is received, the output management unit 104 waits for the page output command from the abstract graphics processing unit 102, and when the command comes, outputs the output command to the output processing unit until then. The operation was suspended while it was being issued. Here, if an output command is received from the external interface, the output is directly performed to the currently set output device.

When the output processing unit switching command is received from the external interface, the output processing units 105, 106, 10
Switch 7 This switching can be switched even while the page description language processing output device is operating. As a result, after performing output to the output device 112 which is a screen display device (CRT), it is possible to perform this switching process and perform output processing to the output device 111 which is a printing device (printer). Become.

According to this embodiment, the following advantages can be obtained. (1) The output image can be confirmed (previewer) on the screen before the printout is performed. That is, at the initial stage, the screen display device is selected as the output device, and when the image output on the screen is confirmed, the output device is switched to the printing device. As a result of switching, output is performed on the print. By using this method, output can be performed without wasting a print medium such as paper.

(2) The processing time by the above method (1) can be shortened as compared with other methods. In order to see the preview by the conventional method, the page description language processing output device is activated twice, the first output to the screen display device, the second output to the printing device, and so on. It takes twice as much time as in the case where output processing is performed in. On the other hand, in this embodiment, the abstract graphics page buffer generates intermediate format data that does not depend on the output device, and the output processing unit processes the data. With this method, output to a plurality of output devices can be processed in a short time because only the output processing unit needs to execute the output device.

(3) The cost required by the above method (1) can be reduced. In order to see the preview in the conventional method, completely independent page description language processing output devices are required, but in the present embodiment, only the output processing unit needs to be prepared according to the output device, so the cost (memory etc.) Can be saved.

(4) The above previewer can be realized without change in the client using the page description language processing output device. In the conventional method, in order to realize the previewer of the above (1), it is necessary to output the page description language processing output device twice. The output work is performed at the request of the client using the page description language processing output device, so the client side must be changed so that the output request is made twice. However, since a general application program is not created in consideration of such use, it is not possible to easily support the case where it is desired to see the preview page by page. In the present embodiment, the processing is performed in response to a request from the external interface of the user, so that the output device can be switched and output any number of times without requiring the client to change.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the function of a page description language processing output device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. This apparatus interprets input data described in a page description language, that is, a page description language program, and forms a page description language processing section 901 and an abstract graphics processing section 9 as a first creating section for forming abstract image data.
02, and output processing units 905 and 906 as a plurality of second creation units that process the abstract image data to generate and output an output image. The apparatus also includes an abstract graphics page buffer 903 capable of storing one page of abstract data generated by the abstract graphics processing unit 902, and an output management unit 904 managing an output destination of the abstract image data. Frame buffers 907 and 908 for holding the output of the output processing units 905 and 906 for one page, and a display device 909 and a printing device 910 as a plurality of output devices.

In the above configuration, the page description language processing unit 901, the abstract graphics processing unit 902, and the abstract graphics page buffer 903 correspond to the page description language processing unit 101 and the abstract graphics processing unit in the first embodiment. 102, which has the same function as the abstract graphics page buffer 103. Also, the output processing unit 9
Reference numerals 05 and 906 are the corresponding output processing units 1 in the first embodiment.
The frame buffer 90 has the same functions as 05 and 106.
7, 908 are the frame buffers 108, 10 of the first embodiment.
9 has the same function as the display device 909 and the printing device 9
Reference numeral 10 corresponds to the output devices 111 and 112 of the first embodiment. However, the function of the output management unit is slightly different from that of the first embodiment.

Therefore, the output management unit 904 having a difference will be mainly described. The output management unit 904 receives a command from the abstract graphics processing unit 902 and an external interface to perform processing. Abstraction graphics processing unit 902
The command received from is the page output command and the drawing command sensing command, and the commands received from the external interface are the output interrupt command when the page output command is detected, the output interrupt cancellation command when the page output command is detected, the real-time previewer setting command, and the real-time previewer setting cancellation. An instruction, an output device switching instruction, an output start instruction, and the like.

In order to realize a real-time previewer, the drawing command sensing command is used by the abstract graphics processing unit 9
02 is sent for each drawing process, and the output management unit 9
When the real-time previewer setting is made, 04 issues an output command to the output processing units 905 and 906 each time this command is received.

The page output command is called from the abstract graphics processing unit 902, and normally outputs the output command as it is to the output processing units 905 and 906.

The output interruption command upon detection of a page output instruction is set so that the processing is temporarily suspended when the page output instruction is received from the abstract graphics processing unit 902. After suspending by this function, the output is switched to the screen display device (CRT) 909 by the output device switching command, output by the output start command, and similarly, the output is switched to the printing device and then the output start command is issued again. For example, a single page description language process can be used to output preview and print twice. This makes it possible to implement a general previewer for each page.

The output interruption canceling command upon detection of the page output command restores the above function to the normal state.

The real-time previewer setting command is set to output an output command to the output processing units 905 to 906 each time a drawing command sensing command is received from the abstract graphics processing unit 902. The real-time previewer setting cancellation command cancels the setting.

The output device switching instruction gives an instruction as to which device is used as the output device in response to a request from the user. By providing a parallel processing function and designating a plurality of devices at the same time, it is possible to simultaneously output to a plurality of output devices.

The output start instruction is used when the processing is started from the state interrupted by the output interruption instruction upon detection of the page output instruction.

Next, the operation of the page description language processing output device of the second embodiment will be described. FIG. 10 shows the flow of the processing. A description will be given separately for a normal process that does not perform a previewer, a case where a page-by-page previewer is performed, and a case where a real-time previewer is performed.

In the case of normal processing without performing the previewer The page description language program input is decomposed and interpreted one instruction at a time in the page description language processing section 901 while performing an error check (step S101).
It is sent to the abstracted graphics processing unit 902.

The abstract graphics processing unit 902 determines the type of the instruction sent from the page description language processing unit 901 (step S102), interprets and executes it (steps S103 to S109).

If the sent command is to set graphics parameters, the graphics parameters are set in the internal table (step S103). FIG. 4 shows an example of graphics parameters.

If the instruction sent from the page description language processing unit 901 is a graphics construction instruction, it is internally constructed in the form of abstract graphics data (step S104). Abstract graphics data is constructed incrementally until there is a drawing command. That is, a graphic is added to the graphic placed in front of it, a conversion operation is performed, etc., and when the drawing command comes at the end, it is output.

When the instruction sent from the page description language processing unit 901 is a drawing instruction, the constructed abstract graphics data is paired with the graphics parameter and written to the abstract graphics page buffer 903 ( Step S105). When the writing is completed, this data is cleared to prepare for the next drawing command. The abstract graphics page buffer 103 is also incrementally constructed similarly to the construction of the abstract graphics data, and the constructed graphics are held until the page output instruction comes.

At this time, at the same time, a drawing command sensing command is issued to the output management unit 904. The output management unit 904 determines whether the real-time previewer setting has been made (step S106). Since the setting is not made now, the output management unit 904 does not operate (step S107).

In the case of a page output command, the output management unit 90
4, the output processing unit is instructed to output the contents of the abstract graphics page buffer 903 according to the output device (step S109).

The output processing units 905 and 906 are the output management unit 9.
When the output command is received through 04, the data is read from the abstract graphics page buffer 903 (step S110), the graphics parameter is converted into a value unique to the output device, and an output image is generated in the frame buffer for the output device. Perform (step S111). The generated image is displayed / printed on the output device (step S
112)

Steps S101, S102, S10
3 is performed for each graphics parameter setting command of the page description language.

Steps S101, S102, S10 described above
4 is executed once for each graphics construction instruction of the page description language.

Steps S101, S102, S10
5, S106 and S107 are performed for each graphics drawing command of the page description language.

Steps S101, S102, S10
9, S110, S111, and S112 are performed for each page output command in the page description language.

When Performing Preview by Page Unit The flow of the page description language processing system is the same as the above case. However, according to the output management unit 904, FIG.
The processing program of step S110 and subsequent steps is switched in the following manner.

When the output management unit 904 receives a command from the external interface, it performs processing according to the command. Normally, it waits for a page output command from the abstract graphics processing unit 902, and when the command comes, the output processing units 905, 90
An output start command is issued to 6. On the other hand, when the output management command group is received from the external interface, the operation corresponding to the command is performed.

When the output interrupt command upon detection of the page output command is received by the external interface, the output management unit 904 waits for the page output command from the abstract graphics processing unit 902, and when the command comes, the output processing unit 905, until then. 9
Although the output command was issued in 06, the operation is suspended. Here, if an output command is received from the external interface, the output is directly performed to the currently set output device 909 or 910.

When the output processing unit switching command is received from the external interface, the output processing units 905 and 906 are switched. This switching can be switched even while the page description language processing output device is operating. As a result, it is possible to perform the switching process after the output to the screen display device 909 and the output process to the printing device 910.

In the case of a real-time previewer In the above-mentioned case, the operation from step S105 of the real-time previewer is partially changed. Step S1
The following will be described.

In the case of a drawing command, the abstract graphics data constructed by the abstract graphics processing unit 902 is paired with the graphics parameter and written in the abstract graphics page buffer 903 (step S105). When the writing is completed, this data is cleared to prepare for the next drawing command. The abstract graphics page buffer is also constructed in the same manner as the abstract graphics data, and is held until a page output instruction comes.

At this time, a drawing command sensing command is issued to the output management unit 904 at the same time. The output management unit 904 determines whether or not the real-time previewer setting has been made (step S106). Since the setting has been made now, the output management unit 904 issues an output command to the output processing unit 904 or 906 (step S108). After that, step S110 and subsequent steps are executed.

In the case of a page output command, the output management unit is instructed to output the abstract graphics page buffer to the output device through the output management unit (step S109).

When the output processing unit 905 or 906 receives the output command through the output management unit 904, it reads the data from the abstract graphics page buffer 903 (step S110) and converts the graphics parameter into a value unique to the corresponding output device. Then, an output image is generated in the frame buffer 907 or 908 for the output device (step S111). The generated image is displayed / printed on the output device 909 or 910 (step S112).

Steps S101, S102, S10
3 is performed for each graphics parameter setting command of the page description language.

Steps S101, S102, S10
4 is executed once for each graphics construction instruction of the page description language.

Steps S101, S102, S10
5, S106, S108, S110, S111, S11
2 is performed for each graphics drawing command of the page description language.

Steps S101, S102, S10
9, S110, S111, and S112 are performed for each page output command in the page description language.

The second embodiment detailed above has the following advantages. (1) The output image can be confirmed (previewer) on the screen before the printout is performed. That is, at the initial stage, the screen display device is selected as the output device, and when the image output on the screen is confirmed, the output device is switched to the printing device. As a result of switching, output is performed on the print. By using this method, output can be performed without wasting a print medium such as paper.

(2) A real-time previewer can be realized in addition to the above-mentioned normal previewer. WYSIWYG
By using the real-time previewer required for processing in combination with a normal previewer, more flexible applications are possible.

(3) The processing time for performing the previewer of this embodiment can be shortened as compared with the conventional method. In order to see the preview by the conventional method, the page description language processing output device is activated twice, the first time is output to the screen device, the second time is output to the printing device, and so on. It takes twice as much time as when output processing is performed.
On the other hand, in this embodiment, the abstract graphics page buffer generates data in an intermediate format that does not depend on the output device, and the output processing unit processes the data, so that the output to a plurality of output devices is not performed. Since only the output processing unit needs to be executed according to the output device, processing can be performed in a short time.

(4) The cost required for the previewer can be reduced as compared with the prior art. That is, in order to see the preview in the conventional method, completely independent page description language processing output devices are required, respectively, but in the present invention, only the output processing unit needs to be prepared according to the output device, so the cost (memory etc.) ) Can be saved.

(5) The above can be realized without change in the client using the page description language processing output device. In the conventional method, in order to realize the previewer, it is necessary to output the page description language processing output device twice. The output work is performed at the request of the client using the page description language processing output device, so the client side must be changed so that the output request is made twice. However, since a general application program is not created in consideration of such use, it is not possible to easily support the case where it is desired to see the preview page by page.

In this embodiment, since the processing is performed in response to the request from the user's external interface, the output device can be switched and output any number of times without requiring the client to change.

(Third Embodiment) FIG. 11 shows a third embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a block diagram showing the function of the page description language processing output device of FIG. This device is a page description language processing device 1100.
And a plurality of output devices 1107 to 1109 and a network server 1 that holds an output processing program used in the output processing unit 1105 of the page description language processing device 1100.
110 is connected to the network. The page description language processing device 1100 interprets input data described in a page description language, that is, a page description language program, and forms a page description language processing unit 1101 and an abstract graphics as a first creation unit that forms abstract image data. The processing unit 1102 is provided, and the output processing unit 1105 is provided as a second creation unit that processes the abstract image data to generate and output an output image. Further, the page description language processing device 1100 includes an abstract graphics processing unit 110.
2. An abstract graphics page buffer 1103 capable of storing one page of the generated abstract data and an output destination of the abstract image data, and an output processing unit 1105.
Output program network server 11 for
Output management unit 1104 for managing download from 10
And a frame buffer 1106 that holds the output of the output processing unit 1105 for one page.

The page description language processing unit 1101, the abstract graphics processing unit 1102 and the abstract graphics page buffer 1103 are the same as those in the first and second embodiments.
The page description language processing unit, the abstract graphics processing unit, and the abstract graphics page buffer have the same functions.

The output management unit 1104 receives instructions from the abstract graphics processing unit 1102 and from the external interface and performs processing. Abstract graphics processing unit 1
The command received from 102 is a page output command, and the command received from the external interface is an output device switching command.

The page output command is called from the abstract graphics processing unit 1102 and issues an output command to the output processing units 1107 to 1109 designated by the external interface.

The output device switching instruction switches which device connected to the network is used as the output device. The switching is performed by switching the output processing program that controls the output device. This output processing program is centrally managed by the network server 1110, and if necessary, the page description language processing apparatus 1100.
Downloaded to. By using this method, a new device can be added or deleted without affecting the page description language processing apparatus 1100. The output processing program may be managed in the page description language processing apparatus 1100 instead of on the network server.

The output processing unit 1105 has an output management unit 110.
4 is set. When the network server 1110 is used, it is downloaded and set. The abstracted graphics processing unit 1102 to the output management unit 11
The output is started by the page output command after 04. Upon receiving the page output command, the output processing unit 1105 reads data from the abstract graphics page buffer 1103 and expands the data into a data format required by the output device. Many are bitmap frame buffers. After the expansion, output processing is performed while controlling the output device.

FIG. 12 shows an outline of the hardware configuration of the third embodiment. The page description language processing device 12 is shown in FIG.
0 and the plurality of output devices 124 to 126 are connected via a network. Page description language processor 120
Is composed of an input device 121, a central processing unit 122, and a storage device 123. In the storage device 123,
A language processing program, an abstract graphics processing program, an output management program, and an output processing program are stored. Central processing unit 1 for language processing programs
22 to obtain the function of the page description language processing unit 1101 shown in FIG. 11, and by executing the abstract graphics processing program on the central processing unit 122, the function of the abstract graphics processing unit 1102 becomes can get. Similarly, by executing the output management program and the output processing program, respectively, the output management unit 11
04, the function of the output processing unit 1105 is realized. In addition,
A plurality of output processing programs corresponding to each output device are stored in the network server 127, and one output processing program is transferred to the storage device 123 via the network as needed.

The operation of the network type page description language processing output device of the third embodiment constructed as described above will be explained. The process flow can be described with reference to FIG. 3 used in the description of the first embodiment. The operations of the first and third embodiments are the same except for the switching processing of the processing program used by the output processing unit 1105. That is, in the third embodiment, the operation after the output processing unit is once switched follows the processing flow of FIG. 3 described in the first embodiment, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here.

When the output management unit 1104 receives an output processing unit switching command from the external interface, it switches the output processing unit. In the switching, first, the output processing program stored in the network server 1110 is downloaded through the network. This output processing program is paired with an output device connected on the network, and the output device is switched by downloading the program. This switching can be switched even while the page description language processing output device is operating. This is because the abstract graphics processing unit 1102 and the output processing unit 1105 are connected only via a buffer called the abstract graphics page buffer 1103, and the processes are separated. Further, since the abstracted graphics page buffer 1103 does not depend on the output device, there is no effect even if it is switched during the processing.

According to the third embodiment, the following advantages can be expected. (1) Various output devices connected to the network can be used. In this embodiment, it is possible to use various output devices and those connected to the network. Therefore, it is possible to share resources in response to the recent distributed environment.

(2) In realizing the distributed environment of (1) above, the size of the main body of the page description language processing device does not change. Even if a variety of output devices are supported, the size will not increase because the page description language processing device main body contains only one processing program if a network server is used.

(3) In realizing the distributed environment of (1) above, the network server 1110 side requires a storage capacity as small as possible. Since the output processing program is only a low-level program depending on the output device, the server can be realized with the minimum necessary capacity. This is a result of the page description language processing device 1100 having a two-step processing configuration.

(4) It is possible to switch even while the page description language processing device is operating. In the page description language processing, the interface is divided by adopting the two-stage processing configuration, and as a result, it is possible to switch the page description language processing apparatus main body even during operation. As a result, the output device can be easily changed.

(5) It is easy to add a new device. The output device can be switched only by the output processing program. Since this output processing program is separated from the others, a new output device can be easily added or deleted.

(6) The network server system is advantageous even when used by many users. Even if each user has a page description language processing device in a situation where it is used by many users, there is only one output processing part in the page description language processing part, so that the storage device is not wasted.

[0127]

According to the present invention (Claim 1), the page description language process depends on the output device based on the abstract graphic data creation process that does not depend on the characteristics or type of the output device. Since it is configured to be separated from and independent of the output creation processing, it is not necessary to prepare an independent page description language processing unit for each output device when using a plurality of output devices, and one common processing unit and output Since it is only necessary to prepare a unique processing unit for each device, it becomes easy to support various output devices, and the system can be made compact and the processing time can be shortened. Further, there is an advantage in cost as compared with the conventional one, and there is also an advantage that only an inherent processing unit is required to be added when an output device is added.

According to the present invention (claim 2), the selecting means selects the second creating means corresponding to the output destination of the first creating means based on the selection information. Thereby, the second creating means prepared for each output device can be changed at any time, and the document data once input can be output to a plurality of different output devices. In that case,
Since the processing of the first creating means is common, it is not necessary to perform the processing again each time the output device is changed.
Since it is only necessary to perform the processing of the creating means, the processing time can be shortened.

According to the present invention (Claim 3), the interruption / cancellation means outputs the abstract graphic data created by the first creation means to the second creation means based on the interruption / cancellation information. Can be suspended or unsuspended. For example, if the output device is interrupted by interruption information instructing to interrupt the output when a page output command is detected, the output device is switched from the printing device to the screen display device by the selection means, and then the output is canceled by the interruption cancellation information, the screen display Can be output to the device, as well as interrupt /
Based on the release information, if the output is subsequently switched to the printing device and the output is restarted, the preview output and the print can be output twice by one page description language process.

According to the present invention (Claim 4), when the real-time previewer instruction is given, the control means outputs the abstracted graphic data every predetermined data unit, for example, every time there is a drawing command. Output to creating means. Normal,
In the page description language processing device, output to the output device is made every time there is a page output command. However, in the present invention, when a real-time previewer instruction is given, output to the screen display device is made for each drawing unit. As a result, the display is performed for each drawing unit instead of the usual page unit, so that real-time drawing can be performed on the screen display device.

The page description language processing apparatus of the present invention (Claim 5) stores at least one kind of second creating means of the second creating means in the above-mentioned invention (Claims 2 to 4) for storing a processing program. It is obtained by reading out from the means and executing it. The processing program may be stored in the storage device of the own device or may be stored in the storage device on the network connected to the own device, for example, on a network server, and has a flexible design when configuring the system. Is possible. By placing the processing program on the network, the system can be minimized in size.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a hardware configuration example of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of graphics parameters.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example showing a relationship between abstracted graphics data and graphics parameters.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the concept of abstract graphics.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a layer of abstract graphics.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of a previewer.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a flow of processing of the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an outline of a hardware configuration example of a third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional page description language processing output device.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a conventional page description language processing output device.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 ... Page description language processing unit, 102 ... Abstract graphics processing unit, 103 ... Abstract graphics page buffer, 104 ... Output management unit, 105-107 ... Output processing unit, 108-110 ... Buffer, 111-113 ...
Output device.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A first creating unit for interpreting document data described in a page description language to create abstract graphic data independent of characteristics and types of output devices, and outputting based on the abstract graphic data. A page description language processing device, comprising: a second creating unit that creates image data to be rendered. 2. A plurality of types of output devices, first creating means for interpreting document data described in a page description language and creating abstract graphic data independent of characteristics and types of the output devices; For each type of output device, a plurality of types of second creating means for creating image data to be output based on the abstract graphic data, and an output destination of the first creating means based on selection information are selected. A page description language processing output device comprising: selection means. 3. A plurality of types of output devices, first creating means for interpreting document data described in a page description language and creating abstract graphic data independent of characteristics and types of output devices, said abstract Buffer means for storing the converted graphic data; a plurality of types of second creating means for creating image data to be output based on the abstracted graphic data for each of the plurality of types of output devices; A selection means for selecting an output destination of the abstract graphic data, and an interruption / cancellation means for interrupting / releasing the output of the abstract graphic data to the second creating means based on the interruption / cancellation information. A page description language processing output device characterized by: 4. A plurality of types of output devices, first creating means for interpreting document data described in a page description language, and creating abstract graphic data independent of characteristics and types of output devices, said abstract Buffer means for storing the converted graphic data; a plurality of types of second creating means for creating image data to be output based on the abstracted graphic data for each of the plurality of types of output devices; A selection means for selecting an output destination of the abstracted graphic data, and a control means for outputting the abstracted graphic data to the second creating means for each predetermined data unit based on a real-time previewer instruction. A page description language processing output device characterized by the above. 5. The at least one kind of second creating means of the plurality of kinds of second creating means stores a processing program stored in a storage means of its own device or a storage means on a network connected to the own device. 5. The page description language processing output device according to claim 2, which is obtained by reading and executing.