JPH07164686A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To effectively print by so selecting which of a host language and a printer language is preferentially set. CONSTITUTION:Data supplied from a host computer 201 is analyzed by a CPU 204. When it is, for example, a host command and a print environment set command, whether or not setting of a relative item by a printer language exists is judged. If it exists, a difference of the both is checked, further whether or not the host language is preferential is checked, and the environment is set by the host language except when the relative item is set, there is the difference and the host language is not preferential.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing method and apparatus, and more particularly to a printer language which can set the setting values of each printer function independently of the printer (control) language or across the printer language. The present invention relates to a printing apparatus that has a control language (upper language) that is a superordinate concept of the above and that has one or more printer languages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of printing apparatus, a host computer (hereinafter abbreviated as a host) is provided with a control command group for each printer language to determine the printing environment.
By sending this control command together with the print data, the host has instructed the printer to perform various operations. As a specific control command, for example,
A command to specify the number of copies to print multiple copies of the same page, a font selection command to select the font and size of characters,
Various commands such as an enlargement / reduction command for designating enlargement / reduction of a print image and instructing to print image data of A3 paper on A4 paper are defined for each printer control language. When the printer receives the data from the host computer, it analyzes the data and distinguishes between the print data and the control command. In the case of the control command, the type and parameters are analyzed to set the predetermined operation or print environment. Run.

[0003]

However, in such a printing apparatus, the host mixes the normal control command and the print data as one data file and saves it as one data file, and sends it to the printing apparatus as needed. Such data may be created by the user directly by inputting the control command, or the control command is automatically inserted in so-called application software (hereinafter referred to as application) such as word processing software or spreadsheet software. Sometimes it is made by. Therefore, if the application to be used does not support the function, even if the printer has the function to be used, the application cannot use the function. In some cases, the printing device has a higher-level language and it is possible to support the above-mentioned functions depending on the higher-level language. A control command in a higher-level language may be inserted in. However, if there is an item for setting the same function in the printer language and the upper language, and if they are inconsistent, one of the settings is set preferentially,
The other setting is invalid. For example, if the upper language has priority over the printer language, the printing environment set by the upper language cannot be changed by an application that does not support the upper language. On the other hand, if the printer language has priority over the upper level language and you want to change the printing environment in the already created data, and the control command is already embedded in the data, the user inserts the control command directly. Had to check the data again to correct any inconvenient control commands, and if it was set by the application, the application had to be re-executed and the instruction given again.

The setting of the printing environment set by the upper language is effective only for the print job immediately after, or until a new setting value is set. Therefore, if it is effective only for the print job immediately after, even if setting the same setting item to the same value, it is necessary to send the setting command in the upper language every time, and it is effective until a new setting value is set. In such a case, unless the values already set are initialized or all the setting items are not set every time, the setting of the previous print job is automatically taken over, and the desired print environment is not necessarily obtained.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that solves the above problems.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention sets at least one printer language and the setting value of each printer function independently of the printer language or across the printer language. Capable of
In a printing apparatus equipped with a higher-level language positioned higher than the printer language, when the setting value of the print language setting item does not match the setting value of the higher-level language setting item in the print job, the priority order is set. It is characterized by comprising setting means for setting.

Further, the present invention is characterized by preferably having means for setting at least one effective range of the upper language and the printer language.

Further, the present invention is preferably characterized by further comprising means for returning to the original setting state when the print job deviates from the set value set by the effective range setting means.

[0009]

EXAMPLE In this example, a laser beam printer will be described as an example of a printing apparatus.

Before describing the configuration of this embodiment, the configuration of a laser beam printer to which this embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of a laser beam printer (hereinafter abbreviated as LBP) applied to this embodiment. The LBP is for registering a character pattern from a data source (not shown) and a fixed form (form). Data) etc. can be registered. In the figure, reference numeral 1000 denotes the LBP main body, which is an externally manufactured host computer (201 in FIG. 2).
Input and store the character information (character code) and form information or macro commands supplied from
A corresponding character pattern, form pattern, or the like is created according to the information, and an image is formed on a recording paper, which is a recording medium. 1012 is a switch for operation and LE
An operation panel on which a D display and the like are arranged, 1001 is L
A printer control unit for controlling the entire BP1000 and analyzing character information supplied from a host computer. The control unit 1001 mainly converts character information into a video signal of a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 1002. Laser driver 1002
Is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1003,
The laser beam 1004 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1003 is switched on and off according to the input video signal. The laser 1004 is swung in the left-right direction by the rotating polygon mirror 1005 to scan the electrostatic drum 1006. This allows
An electrostatic latent image having a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 1006. The latent image is developed by the developing unit 1007 around the electrostatic drum 1006 and then transferred to the recording paper. A cut sheet is used as the recording paper, and the cut sheet recording paper is the paper cassette 10 mounted on the LBP1000.
No. 08 is accommodated in the apparatus and is taken into the apparatus by the sheet feeding roller 1009 and the conveying rollers 1010 and 1011 and supplied to the electrostatic drum 1006.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the LBP 1000 shown in FIG. 1 (excluding the host computer).

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 201 denotes a host computer, which inputs information 211 consisting of character codes, external character fonts, form information, macro registration information, etc. as a source of image information into the LBP 1000, and prints document information etc. page by page. Are controlled. A reception buffer 203 receives the information 211 from the host computer 201 via the input interface unit 202 and temporarily stores it. 209 is a character pattern generator,
RO storing pattern information corresponding to character code
It also includes M and a control circuit for controlling the reading thereof, and has a code conversion function of calculating the address of the character pattern corresponding to the code when the character code is input. Reference numeral 204 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire LBP control system, which includes a ROM storing a control program and a RAM having a work area, and stores a control program as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 stored in a built-in ROM. Including CP
The U control program controls the entire apparatus. The control program includes a higher-level language analysis unit and one or more printer language analysis units. Reference numeral 205 denotes the pattern information expanded into a character pattern, which is set to 1 in correspondence with the print image.
A page buffer stores pages, and a frame buffer 206 stores pattern information of each page from the page buffer 203. An output interface unit 207 generates a video signal corresponding to the pattern information from the frame buffer 206 and executes interface control with the printing mechanism unit 208. The printing mechanism unit 208 inputs the video signal from the output interface unit 207 and prints the image information based on this video signal.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of the main data processing procedure in this embodiment. In addition, S1
S3 indicates each step.

First, print data is input from the host computer, reception processing is executed (S1), and an analysis routine of the received data is executed (S2). Next, the expansion / output process is executed (S3), and then the process returns to the reception process.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an example of a detailed procedure of the data analysis routine in the first printing method according to the present embodiment. Note that S11 to S23 indicate each step.

First, a command table is used to determine whether or not the command is in a higher-level language (S11). If it is a command in a higher-level language, it is further determined by a command table whether or not it is a command for setting the printing environment. If the result is YES (S12), it is determined whether a printer language setting related to the setting value is set in advance in the same job by a flag that has a related item in advance (S13). If the result of S12 is NO, other processing in the upper language (for example, returning the printer status and setting values to the host) is performed (S17), and the analysis processing ends. If the result of (S13) is YES, it is determined whether or not the two settings are inconsistent with reference to the setting value of the target setting item (S14), and NO
If so, the environment is set in a higher-level language (S16), the flag that is previously set for the related item is turned on, and the process ends. If the result of S14 is YES (mismatch), it is determined whether or not priority is given to the upper language by referring to the set value (S15), and if NO (no disagreement), environment setting is performed in the upper language (S1).
6) Turn on a flag that is associated with a related item in advance and end the process. The result of S15 is YE
If it is S, the environment is set in the upper language (S16),
The flag that is already held for the related item is turned on, and the process is ended. If NO, the process is ended without doing anything. If the result of (S11) is NO, whether or not it is a command for setting the printing environment is determined by the command table (S18), and if the result is YES, the language of the upper language related to the setting value Whether or not the setting is made in advance in the same job is judged by a flag which has a related item in advance (S1).
9). If the result of S18 is NO, other processing in the printer language (for example, print data analysis processing) is performed (S23), and the analysis processing ends. The result of S19 is YE
If it is S, it is judged whether or not the two settings are different by referring to the setting value of the target item (S20), and if it is NO, the environment is set by the printer language (S22), and the flag that is related to the related item is set in advance. Is turned on, and the process ends. If the result of (S20) is YES (mismatch), it is judged whether the printer language is prioritized or not by referring to the set value (S21), and if NO (no disagreement), the environment setting is made in the printer language. (S22) Then, the flag that has the related item in advance is turned on, and the process ends. (S2
If the result of 1) is YES, the environment is set according to the printer language (S22), the flag that has the related item in advance is turned on, and the process is ended. If the result is NO, the process is ended without doing anything. .

Here, it is assumed that which of the upper language and the printer language is valid is set in advance by a command or from the panel 1012.

By the above processing, the same print job or the item that causes a contradiction depending on the set value is set in both the upper language and the printer language, and even if there is a discrepancy between them, it can be used. A person who wants to truly enable the setting can be enabled.

Next, a specific example of the second printing procedure will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 5A to 5D show an example in which the effective range of the setting of the upper language or the printer language is defined by the upper language.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the print job is a mixture of a print environment setting command and print data in the printer language (however, as shown in the figure, the area of the print environment setting command and the area of the print data are not necessarily the same. It is not always properly divided into two, and sometimes they are in alternate. Here, FIG. 5B illustrates an example in which the effective range of the printing environment of the upper language and the print language set by the range setting command in the upper language is the following one print job. is there. In this case, as shown in the figure, the effective range of the print environment set by the upper language and the printer language is only the print job A, which is the next one print job, and the print jobs B and thereafter are printed in the original print environment. Will be performed. Further, FIG. 5C shows that the effective range of the printing environment set by the range setting command in the upper language is the upper language until the setting change of the same item in the upper language, and the printer language is the next one print job. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the case only. In this case, the effective range of the print environment set by the printer language is only print job A, which is the next one print job, and the effective range of the print environment set by the upper language is the setting change of the same item in the upper language. Until there is. Similarly, in FIG. 5D, the effective range of the printing environment set by the range setting command in the upper language is
The setting of the upper language is only for the next one print job, and the setting of the printer language is shown until the setting change of the same item of the printer language.

In the above example, in order to set the effective range of the set printing environment to only one print job, once the range setting is performed by a command or from the panel 1012, the entire printing environment is once set to, for example, the CPU 20.
4 is copied to a specific area of the storage device (RAM) or with a specific name of the storage device, and a flag for validating the setting of only one print job is turned on. Then, each time the print job is completed, the flag is referenced, and if the flag is on, all the printing environments are copied from the storage device, the printing environment is restored, and the flag is turned off. As a method of realizing when the effective range of the next set print environment is changed until the setting of the same item is changed, the effective range of the set print environment is set when the range is set by a command or from the panel. Turn on the flag until the setting change for the same item, and change the print environment by commands other than the command to set the print environment until the range is changed by a command or from the time when the range is set from the panel. Invalidate.

As described above, the effective range of the print environment setting command is limited to the next one print job, or by setting it, the setting for one print job can be prevented from affecting other print jobs. In addition, it is possible to print up to a print job in a desired range in a desired printing environment without setting each time.

<Other Embodiments> Other embodiments are as follows.

In the first printing procedure, the setting value of the setting item of each printer language is different from the setting value of the setting item of the higher-ranking language that is strongly related. Alternatively, in the above example, the priorities in the case where they are not consistent are designated by the designation method of the upper language or the printer language. Other than that, the second
Similar to the printing procedure of, for items that have strongly related items, have a flag that is reset (turned off) each time the print job ends, and always set a flag before setting that item. If the flag is on, prepare a mechanism that invalidates the setting of that item and does not set it, and when the setting item of either the upper language or the printer language is set, turn on the previous flag. The print method that gives priority to the one that was set earlier in the print job, or the print method that gives priority to the setting of the upper language and the setting of the printer language described in the previous embodiment, using a command from the host or Select from the panel.

Further, in the second and third printing procedures, in the above example, the effective range is until the next one print job or the next setting change of the same item is performed. By having the above, the effective range of the print environment setting command for each of the upper language and the printer language can be arbitrarily specified on a print job basis from the command or the panel.

Further, in the printing procedure as described above, the setting of the effective range of the printing environment and the setting value of the setting item of each printer language are set to the setting items of the higher-ranking languages which are strongly related to each other, as described in the above examples. The priority order is set together when it is different from the set value or inconsistent.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to print efficiently because it is possible to select which one of the upper language and the printer language is given priority.
Further, by specifying the effective range of the setting, or both the priority order and the effective range, printing can be performed more efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a configuration of a laser beam printer to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of the main body shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure in the printing apparatus according to the present exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a detailed procedure of a data analysis routine in a first printing procedure according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the second printing procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 201 host computer 202 input interface unit 203 reception buffer 204 CPU 205 page buffer 206 frame buffer 207 output interface unit 208 printing mechanism unit 209 character pattern generator

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A high-level language positioned at a higher level of the printer language, which is capable of setting a setting value of each printer function independently of at least one printer language and across the printer language, or across the printer language. In a printing apparatus equipped with and, in the print job, the setting value of the setting item of the printer language does not match with the setting value of the setting item of the higher-level language. Characteristic printing device. 2. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting at least one effective range of the upper language and the printer language. 3. The printing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising means for returning to the original setting state when the print job deviates from the set value set by the effective range setting means.