JPH07306760A - Electronic equipment and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable high-speed printing by properly switching the format of data transferred to a printer device on the basis of the data to be printed and the processing capability of the printer when the data are printed on the printer device. CONSTITUTION:When bit map data based upon print data are transferred to the printer device 1000, the printing process time in a case wherein the bit map data are transferred as they are is predicted in consideration of their transfer speed. Further, a printing process time in a case wherein the bit map data are compressed and and transferred and the expansion speed of the printer device 100 is considered is predicted by an expanding process time prediction module 211. Those are judged by a total time judgement device 212 and the data are transferred in the format of the shorter time to the printer device 1000.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device and its control method, and more particularly to an electronic device for transferring print data to a printer and its control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when a host computer transfers print data to a printer, it transfers bitmap data and print data composed of character codes and various control codes (including drawing codes). There are two types of transfer.

When transferring bitmap data,
Even if the printer device does not have a special function, the bitmap of the print data is formed on the host computer, so that the intended printing can be performed. Further, in the latter case, since the function of the printing apparatus is used, a desired image can be printed as long as the printing apparatus has the intended function.

[0004]

Considering the case of transferring bitmap data, when a print request is made by an application running on a computer, the print data is first expanded into bitmap data. There is a need to. However, if the printer has a function of interpreting a page description language, for example, and is a relatively high-speed printer, at the time of a print request from an application, it is not expanded into a bitmap and translated into a corresponding printer language. In many cases, the transfer time can be shortened as a result.

The same applies to an apparatus having a function of interpreting a character code or various commands and drawing a corresponding character pattern or line drawing on its own buffer memory. In other words, there are various devices like this,
In the case of an apparatus in which the interpretation process and the bitmap expansion are slow, printing is completed earlier if the host computer expands the bitmap and transfers it.

However, heretofore, the processing speeds of the printer and the side that transfers print data to the printer have not been considered at all. In other words, although it was possible to print at high speed, it was not utilized.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] and

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
When printing with a printer device, an electronic device that enables high-speed printing by appropriately switching the format of data to be transferred to the printer device based on the data to be printed and the processing capacity of the printer It is intended to provide a control method.

In order to solve this problem, for example, the electronic equipment of the present invention has the following configuration. That is, it is an electronic device that transfers print data to a printer device, and based on the print data, a bitmap expansion unit that expands bitmap data corresponding to the print data, and compresses the bitmap expanded bitmap data. First printing based on a compression unit for encoding, a time required by the compression unit for the bitmap data, a data amount after compression, a decompression processing speed on the printer device side, and a data transfer speed to the printer device. First predicting means for predicting a processing time, second predicting means for predicting a second print processing time when the bitmap data before being compressed by the compressing means is transferred, and the first and second Comparing means for comparing the print processing times, and data compressed by the compressing means according to the comparison result of the comparing means, or One of previous bitmap data reduced and a transfer means for transferring to the printer device.

In the configuration of the present invention, when the printer is to print based on the print data, it is faster if the electronic device expands the bitmap, compresses it, and transfers it to the printer. Since it is determined whether it is faster to transfer the map as it is, the transfer is performed, so that the printing can be performed in the best condition.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
The electronic device is a host computer that transfers print data to the printer.

The expansion speed of the printer is preferably preset and stored.

An electronic device according to another invention has the following structure. That is, an electronic device that transfers print data to a printer device, the first calculation means for predicting and calculating a time required for the printer to print based on print data including a normal character code, and the print data. Based on the above, it is obtained by the second calculation means for predicting and calculating the time required when the bit map is developed and transferred to the printer device for printing, and the first and second calculation means. A comparison unit that compares the respective times and a transfer unit that transfers either the print data or the bitmap-developed data to the printer based on the result of the comparison unit are provided.

Here, according to the embodiment, when the printer device further includes a unit for receiving the compressed bitmap data, decompressing the bitmap data, and printing the bitmap data, the bitmap data generated based on the print data is stored. The transfer means further comprises a third calculation means for predictively calculating a time for compression, a decompression processing on the printer device side, and a time for a printing processing in which a transfer speed of compressed data is added.
It is desirable to compare the respective times calculated by the third calculating means and transfer the data in any one format to the printer. As a result, since there are three selection items, it is possible to select a procedure that is more detailed and faster.

Further, it is desirable to provide a means for storing and holding the speed of the dot pattern generation processing based on the character code and the expansion processing in the printer device. This makes it possible to roughly predict the processing speed on the printer device side.

Further, a cache memory for generating a font pattern is provided inside the printer device, and the printer device is connected to the printer device through a bidirectional interface and stored in the cache memory from the printer device at a predetermined timing. It is desirable to provide a receiving means for receiving the character list information. As a result, the transfer unit can add the received character list information to the selection condition, and can select a more accurate and high-speed procedure.

The printer device and the electronic device each have means for measuring their own processing capability at the power-on stage.
It is preferable that the printer device includes a transfer unit that transfers the measured processing capacity to the electronic device via the bidirectional interface. According to this, even if the printer is replaced with another printer, it is possible to perform the optimum processing according to the printer.

[0017]

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

First, the configuration of the laser beam printer in the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As will be apparent from the following description, the present invention is not limited to laser beam printers, and other printing methods (for example, LED
A printing method, a thermal transfer recording method, an inkjet method, a wire dot method) may be used.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of a laser beam printer (hereinafter abbreviated as LBP) applied to this embodiment. This LBP is a character pattern registration from a data source (not shown) and a fixed format ( You can register (form data) etc. In the figure, reference numeral 1000 denotes the LBP main body, which is an externally connected host computer (201 in FIG. 2).
Input and store the character information (character code), form information, macro commands, images, etc. supplied from, and create the corresponding character pattern or form pattern according to the information, and print it on the recording paper that is the recording medium. Form an image. The data reception from the host computer is performed via the parallel interface, but other data may be received. In addition, data can be unidirectional (for example, an interface specified by Centronics in the United States) or bidirectional (for example, a SCSI interface).
However, the present invention is not limited by the form of the interface.

Reference numeral 1012 denotes a switch and LB for operation.
An operation panel on which a P display is arranged, 1001 is L
A printer control unit for controlling the entire BP1000 and analyzing character information and the like supplied from the host computer. The control unit 1001 mainly converts character information corresponding to character information or image data into a video signal and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 1002. The laser driver 1002 is a circuit for driving the semiconductor laser 1003, and switches on / off the laser light 1004 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1003 according to the input video signal. The laser 104 is oscillated in the left-right direction by the rotating polygon mirror 1005 to scan the electrostatic drum 1006. As a result, 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 sheet, and the cut sheet recording sheet is stored in a sheet cassette 1008 mounted on the LBP1000, and is taken into the apparatus by a sheet feeding roller 1009 and conveying rollers 1010 and 1011 to be electrostatically charged. It is supplied to the drum 1006. Then, the toner image adhered on the electrostatic drum 706 by the developing device 1007 is transferred to the conveyed recording paper. afterwards,
The recording paper is conveyed toward the fixing device 1013 and the toner is fixed. Then, finally, it is discharged to the outside by the discharge roller 1014.

Next, the configuration of the host computer in the embodiment is shown in FIG. 2 and will be described below.

First, the host computer 201 is shown in FIG.
Processing is performed according to the procedure shown in. This processing procedure (program) is stored in the ROM 207. The constituent units will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
In the following description (the same applies to the second and subsequent embodiments described later), each "... Module" may be hardware or software.

First, in step S402, the CPU 206 determines whether print data is stored in the print data storage module 217, and waits until it is stored. That is, when a print instruction is received from the application software operating on the host computer, the print data storage module 2 temporarily stores the print data.
It will be stored in 17.

Now, when print data (for example, data as shown in FIG. 6, ff indicates a form feed in the figure) is stored in the module 217, the process is performed in step S.
In step 403, the parsing module 202 analyzes the print data and develops the bitmap in the bitmap image buffer 204. At substantially the same time, measurement of the compression processing time is started in the 209 compression measurement module (step S404). Step S
In 405, the bitmap image expanded in the bitmap image buffer 204 is compressed by the compression module 205.
It is compressed by and stored in the compressed image buffer 213. Then, substantially simultaneously with this, the measurement of the compression speed measurement module 209 ends (step S406).

Next, in step S407, the CPU 206 recognizes the capacity of the 213 compressed image buffer. And
In step S408, the decompression processing time prediction module 211 predicts the decompression processing time of the compressed data in the printing device 215 based on the values stored in the compression processing speed measurement module 209 and the decompression processing time basic data storage module 210. I do.

When the processing proceeds to step S409, the CPU 2
For 06, it is determined whether the compressed data is transferred at a higher speed, or when the data is transferred as it is, a higher speed is determined. Here, if the value of the decompression processing time basic data is 1.5 as shown in FIG. 7 and the compression processing time is 2 seconds as shown in FIG. 8, the predicted decompression processing time is 1.5 × 2 = 3 seconds.

Host computer 201 and printer 21
5, the transfer rate of 5 is 100 bytes /
Let's say seconds.

When the size of the uncompressed data is 900 bytes as shown in FIG. 9, the time required to transfer the data to the printer 215 is 900/100 = 9 seconds, which is 9 seconds.

On the other hand, the size of the compressed data is the value shown in FIG. Therefore, the time required to transfer the compressed data is 500/100 = 5 seconds, which is 5 seconds.

Therefore, the time required to transfer and expand the compressed data is 5 + 3 = 8, which is 8 seconds.

Therefore, in such a case, it can be determined that the compressed data can be transferred for faster processing. Therefore, in this case, the process proceeds to step S410, the contents of the compression buffer are transferred to the printing device 215, and the printing process of the host computer ends.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S409 that the uncompressed data can be processed at a higher speed, the process proceeds to step S411, the contents of the bitmap buffer are transferred to the printing device 215, and the printing process of the host computer ends.

Next, the printing process of the printing apparatus in the embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of the printing apparatus connected to the host computer. This mainly shows the configuration of the printer control unit 1001 in FIG.

The meaning and operation of each component in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. It should be noted that the program according to this flowchart is naturally R
It is stored in the OM 306. In addition, this RO
M also stores outline vector data and the like (generally, outlines are often defined by Bezier curves).

First, in step S502, it waits for data transfer from the host computer via the I / O interface 309. If the data has been transferred, the process proceeds to step S503, and the CPU 305 identifies whether or not the data transferred by the received data analysis module 302 is compressed. If the data is compressed, the process proceeds to step S504, the compressed data is expanded by the data expansion module 303, and the expanded bitmap image is stored in the print buffer.
In step SS505, the contents of the print buffer 304 are transferred to the print module 308 to print.

As described above, according to the embodiment, there are a case of compressing a bit map on the host computer and decompressing it on the printing device side, and a case of printing by transferring the bit map as it is. By making an appropriate selection, it becomes possible to print in the shortest time.

In the above embodiment, the formula for predicting the processing speed of the printing device is fixed, but the processing speed depends on the model of each printing device, and the host computer is connected. It has model information of the printing apparatus and information on its processing speed, and the prediction formula differs depending on the information. In addition, since the transfer speed also depends on the type of interface, and also the buffer area provided in the printing apparatus, such information is stored and held in advance,
Calculate based on that.

When a plurality of printing devices are connected (for example, when they are connected via a network), information (processing speed etc.) concerning each printer and information about transfer speed etc. are stored and held in advance. Alternatively, when the user on the host computer selects the printer to be printed, the above determination process may be performed based on the information.
However, I will often select that printer next time, so
It is better not to change the selected content unless there is a special change instruction. Therefore, it is desirable to store the selected contents in a non-volatile storage device (for example, a hard disk device).

Although the processing based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is described as being stored in the ROM 207, a program (becomes a device driver program) for an external storage device (not shown) (for example, a hard disk device) is stored. It may be applicable to the case where the OS (operating system) of the computer is stored and the boot program is stored in the ROM 207. Therefore, the embodiment is not limited to the above device, and can be realized by supplying the program from the outside.

<Description of Second Embodiment> The above-described embodiment (first embodiment)
12) to 13), it is possible to always select the fastest processing that can be selected.

The processing procedure of the host computer 1201 of FIG. 12 is shown in FIG. 14, and the processing procedure of the printing apparatus 1301 of FIG. 13 is as shown in FIG.

The processing of the second embodiment is step S14.
The process up to 03 is the same as that of the first embodiment, but the print data expansion process of the printer 1215 is performed based on the value (function information) stored in the print device basic print data expansion processing time storage module 1208 in step S1404. Predict time. This module 1215 stores at least one printing device that can output print data and its function information. If the printing device to be output is selected before the present processing, the printing device is selected. Prediction is performed based on the corresponding function information, or if not selected, the function information of the previously selected printing apparatus. Of course, the print data actually sent is also taken into consideration.

When the processing advances to step S1405, the estimated print processing time of the printing apparatus and the processing time of the host computer estimated from the basic print data expansion processing time 1217 + the transfer time of the expanded bitmap image to the printing apparatus. If the processing in the printing device is fast, the process proceeds to step S1406, and the bitmap is developed in the printing device. If the process in the host computer is predicted to be fast, the process proceeds to step S1408. Bitmap development is performed on the above, and step S140
In step 9, the expanded data is transferred to the printing device.

The control procedure of the printing apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in step S1502, the reception of print data is awaited. When the print data is received, in step S503, if the received data requires bitmap expansion, the drawing module 1313 expands the bitmap image in the print buffer 1304. Then, the process advances to step S1505 to perform print processing.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the case where the print data instructed by the higher-level processing (application or the like) is transferred and printed in the normal format and the case where the bitmap is expanded on the host computer However, compared with the case of transferring the image that has undergone the bitmap expansion, the higher speed is selected and printing is performed, so that it is possible to perform high speed printing under that environment.

<Explanation of Third Embodiment> In the second embodiment, the print data is expanded into bitmaps on the host computer side and transferred to the printing apparatus. However, when expanded into bitmaps, it is encoded. It may be transferred.

The processing procedure on the host computer side in this case is as shown in FIG. The difference from FIG. 14 is that the compression non-determination process (step S1609) is inserted after step S1408 (step S1608), and the rest is the same. However, in the processing in step S1609, the time required for the compression processing + the transfer time is compared with the time when the transfer is performed without being compressed, and the earlier one is selected.

The processing procedure on the printing apparatus side will be as shown in FIG. That is, step S
1707 and S1708 are added.

That is, when it is determined that the data is compressed (step S1707), a process for expanding the compressed data is added.

By doing so, compared with the second embodiment, in the third embodiment, the processing method is such that normal print data (character code or various command data) is transferred, bit Case of transferring as map data,
Since it is possible to select from three cases of compressing the bitmap to reduce the amount of information to be transferred, it is possible to transfer the print data more flexibly and appropriately.

<Explanation of Fourth Embodiment> A function of storing the bitmaps developed in the LBP and the host computer of the third embodiment described above as caches as much as possible, and the cache information of the printing apparatus An example in which the fastest processing can be selected by adding the function of transmitting to the host computer will be described as a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 18 shows the configuration of the host computer and FIG. 19 shows the configuration of the printing apparatus in the fourth embodiment. The same components as those in the first to third embodiments have the same names. For different configurations,
It will be apparent from the following description. Further, in the fourth embodiment, the interface connecting the host computer and the printing device is assumed to be bidirectional data transfer (for example, SCSI interface).

The operation processing procedure of the host computer and the operation processing procedure of the printing apparatus in the fourth embodiment will be described below with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. 20 and 21 and FIGS.

CP in the host computer 1801
If the U1806 confirms the presence of print data in step S2002, the time for bitmap expansion processing in the host computer is calculated by analyzing the print data in step S2003.

If the print data is a scalable font print as shown in FIG. 22 and no data is stored in the bitmap cache 1821 as indicated by reference numeral 2301 in FIG. You need to expand the map.

Here, if the scalable font bitmap development processing time on the host computer stored in the basic print data processing time storage module 1817 is 1 second as indicated by reference numeral 2501 in FIG. 25, the bitmap is processed. The time required for the expansion processing is 1 second × 3 characters = 3 seconds.

If the data of one character is 300 bytes / character as shown by reference numeral 2504 and the transfer process in the printing device 1901 is 500 bytes / second as shown by reference numeral 2505, 3 seconds + (3 characters × 300 bytes) ÷ 500 = 4.8 seconds is necessary.

Also, compression of one character in the host computer and decompression in the printing device are denoted by reference numerals 2502 and 2, respectively.
Assuming 503, 3 seconds + 3 characters x 0.2 seconds + 3 characters x 0.3 seconds = 4.5 seconds are required.

The host computer 1801 predicts the bitmap development processing time of the printing apparatus in step S2004.

Here, the print cache storage module 1
The cache information of the printing apparatus (information returned from the printing apparatus) stored in 820 is denoted by reference numeral 2402 in FIG.
As in 2402, the bitmap images of the characters A and B have already been expanded, and the bitmap expansion processing time per character in the printing device stored in the printing device print data expansion processing time storage module 1818 is shown. Code 2
As shown in 506, assuming 1.2 seconds, 1 character × 1.2 seconds = 1.2 seconds is required.

In step S2005, the host computer 1801 determines which of the above three types is the fastest processing. When it is determined that the processing of the printing apparatus is high speed, the process moves to step S2010, the print data is transferred to the printing apparatus, and the processing ends. If it is determined that the processing in the host computer is fast, the process proceeds to step S2006 and bitmap expansion is performed. Then, in step S2007, either processing with or without compression is selected, and the transfer as it is and the compressed transfer are performed, respectively.

In the above specific example, the expansion is performed in the printing device whose processing time is predicted to be 1.2 seconds based on the predicted processing time of the bitmap expansion including the cache.

On the other hand, on the printing apparatus side, the printing process is performed in the procedure shown in FIG. Step S2102-in the figure
S2105 is the same as steps S1502 to S1505 in FIG. The difference is that a process for returning the information stored in the bitmap cache 1914 inside the printing device to the host computer 1801 which is a higher-level device is added.

Since the host computer generally has a higher processing capability and the bitmap is expanded in the host computer, a large amount of cache is stored in the host computer, but at the same processing speed, the printing apparatus prepares for the next printing process. It is advantageous to perform bitmap expansion in. In such a case, the cache may exist only in the printing apparatus.

In this way, if the cache is taken into consideration, it becomes possible to select a higher speed process.

<Description of Fifth Embodiment> Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. In the fifth embodiment, as compared with the configurations of the printing apparatus and the host computer of the above-mentioned fourth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 26 and FIG. The measurement is performed and the measurement result of the printing device is transferred to the host computer. The host computer stores the result of measuring the processing capacity of the host computer in the basic print data expansion processing time storage module 2
By storing the processing capacity measurement result of the printing apparatus in the 2618 printing apparatus print data expansion processing time storage module in 617, it is possible to automatically cope with the change in processing capacity due to the addition of RAM or the like.

The reason why the processing speed is changed by adding RAM is that the capacity allocated to the cache memory and the capacity of the reception buffer are increased.

As a processing procedure, as described above, each device measures its own processing capacity when the power is turned on. However, since the processing after the bitmap expansion is constant on the printing device side, the subsequent processing (printing processing on recording paper, etc.) is not performed.

On the printing apparatus side, the measured processing capacity information is transferred to the host computer via the I / O interface 2709 together with a predetermined command. The host computer stores the received processing capability information of the printing apparatus and the processing capability of the host computer measured by itself in the corresponding modules. Subsequent processing is in accordance with the embodiment described above.

In the above description, the laser beam printer has been described as an example of the printing apparatus in the embodiment, but it can be easily inferred from the above contents that it can be applied to other apparatuses. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to laser beam printers. However, generally, a printing apparatus of a type in which a carriage having a recording head is moved in a scanning motion is slower than a page printer such as a laser beam printer or an LED printer. Therefore, it is advantageous to target a device capable of high-speed printing such as a page printer.

Further, as described above, the host computer in the embodiment is only required to perform the operation of each of the above embodiments when receiving the print instruction, so that the corresponding program is not limited to the ROM. , RAM, that is, it may be realized by supplying from the outside.

Further, the processing on the host computer side in the above-described embodiment can be realized by an independent device interposed between the host computer computer and the printer. In this case, print data is received from the host computer in a normal format, and processing based on the received data is performed inside the independent device.

As described above, according to this embodiment, 1) when the host computer develops the print data into a bitmap image and transfers it to the printing device for printing,
The effect that the fastest printing process can be performed by selecting the process that is predicted to be the high-speed process when compressed and transferred and expanded by the printing device, and when uncompressed and transferred There is.

2) In a printing method composed of a host computer having a function of expanding print data into a bitmap image and a printing device having a function of expanding print data into a bitmap image, the print data is transmitted to the host computer as bit data. Higher-speed processing is expected when expanding to a map image and transferring to a printing device for printing, and when transferring print data to a printing device and expanding to bitmap data and printing at the printing device. There is an effect that the fastest printing process can be performed by selecting the one of the processes.

3) A host computer having a function of expanding the print data into a bit map image, compressing the expanded bit map image and transferring it to the printing apparatus, a function of expanding the print data into a bit map image, and the received compression In the printing method that is configured by the printing device that has the function of decompressing the data, when the host computer develops the print data into a bitmap image and transfers it to the printing device for printing, and when the printing data is transferred to the printing device. The fastest processing between the case where the printing device expands to bitmap data for printing, and the case where the host computer expands the bitmap image and then compresses it and transfers it to the printing device and expands it in the printing device. It is said that the fastest printing process can be performed by selecting the process that predicts There is a result.

4) It has a function of expanding the print data into a bitmap image, has a function of caching the expanded print data, has a function of managing cache information of the connected printing device, and stores the expanded bitmap image. A host computer that compresses and transfers to the printing device,
A function to expand print data into a bitmap image,
In the printing method that is configured by the printing device that has the function of caching the expanded print data, the function of transferring the cache information to the connected host computer, and the function of decompressing the received compressed data, printing by the host computer When the data is expanded to a bitmap image and transferred to the printing device for printing, when the print data is transferred to the printing device and expanded to bitmap data in the printing device and printed, and when the host computer executes the bit printing. Of the cases where the map image is expanded, further compressed, transferred to the printing device, and decompressed in the printing device, the fastest processing is possible even with reference to the cache information in the host computer and the printing device. There is an effect that the fastest printing process can be performed by selecting the process.

5) It has a function of expanding print data into a bitmap image, has a function of caching the expanded print data, has a function of managing cache information of a connected printing device, and has power-on or panel operation. A host computer that has the function of detecting the operating environment and constantly grasping the processing capacity and having the function of managing the processing capacity of the connected printing device, and compressing the expanded bitmap image and transferring it to the printing device. Also, it has a function to expand the print data into a bitmap image, a function to cache the expanded print data, and a function to transfer the cache information to the connected host computer, and the operating environment at power-on, panel operation, etc. It has a function to detect the
In a printing method that has a function of transmitting processing power to a connected host computer and a function of decompressing received compressed data and is configured by a printing device, the printing data is expanded into a bitmap image by the host computer and the printing device Transfer to the printer for printing, transfer of print data to the printing device for expansion into bitmap data by the printing device for printing, and expansion to a bitmap image by the host computer for further compression. When the data is transferred to a computer and expanded in the printing device, select the process that is predicted to be the fastest process by referring to the cache information in the host computer and the printing device and the processing capacity information of each. Has the effect that the fastest printing process can be performed.

[0080]

As described above, according to the present invention, when printing is performed by the printer device, the format of the data to be transferred to the printer device can be appropriately switched based on the data to be printed and the processing capacity of the printer. It becomes possible to print at high speed.

[0081]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a structural cross-sectional view of a printing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a host computer in the first embodiment.

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

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a host computer in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of the printing apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of print data.

7 is a diagram showing an example of decompression processing basic data stored in a decompression processing time basic data storage module 210 in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a storage state of compression processing time.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a storage state of information indicating a data amount when uncompressed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a storage state of information indicating a data amount after compression.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a storage state of transfer processing capability information from a host computer to a printing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a block configuration diagram of a host computer in the second and second embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a block configuration diagram of a host computer in the second and third embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation processing procedure of a host computer in the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating an operation processing procedure of the printing apparatus according to the second exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an operation processing procedure of a host computer in the third embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an operation processing procedure of the printing apparatus according to the third exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a host computer in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a printing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing an operation processing procedure of a host computer in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an operation processing procedure of the printing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of print data.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a state where the bitmap cache memory 1821 is empty.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a state in which bitmap data is stored in the bitmap cache memory 1914.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a storage state of each function information in the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a host computer in the fifth embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a block configuration diagram of a printing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 201 host computer computer 206 CPU 207 ROM 208 RAM 1000 printing device

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. An electronic device for transferring print data to a printer, comprising: a bitmap expansion means for expanding bitmap data corresponding to the print data based on the print data; and a bitmap expanded bitmap. Compression means for compressing and encoding data, a time required by the compression means for the bitmap data, a data amount after compression, a decompression processing speed on the printer device side, and a data transfer speed to the printer device. A first predicting unit for predicting a first print processing time; a second predicting unit for predicting a second print processing time when the bitmap data before being compressed by the compressing unit is transferred; Comparing means for comparing the second print processing times, and data after being compressed by the compressing means according to the comparison result of the comparing means, or Or an electronic device including a transfer unit that transfers one of the bitmap data before compression to the printer device. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1 is a host computer that transfers print data to a printer. 3. The printer control device according to claim 1, wherein the expansion speed of the printer device is set and stored in advance. 4. A method of controlling an electronic device for transferring print data to a printer device, wherein when there is a print data output instruction from a higher-level process, a step of expanding bitmap data based on the print data is performed. Based on the step of compression-encoding the bit-mapped bitmap data, the time required for the pre-compression step, the amount of data after compression, the decompression processing speed on the printer device side, and the data transfer speed to the printer device. A step of predicting and calculating a first print processing time; a step of predicting and calculating a second print processing time when bit map data before being compressed in the compression step is transferred; Depending on the comparison result, the data after compression by the compression process or the bitmap data before compression And a step of transferring one of them to the printer device. 5. The electronic device control method according to claim 4, wherein the electronic device is a host computer that transfers print data to a printer. 6. The method of controlling an electronic device according to claim 4, wherein the expansion speed of the printer device is set and stored in advance. 7. An electronic device for transferring print data to a printer device, comprising: first calculating means for predicting and calculating a time required for the printer to print based on print data including a normal character code; A second calculation means for predicting and calculating a time required when the bitmap data is developed by itself and transferred to the printer device for printing based on the print data; and the first and second calculation means. A comparison means for comparing the obtained times, and a transfer means for transferring either the print data or the bitmap-developed data to the printer based on the result of the comparison means. Electronic equipment to do. 8. When the printer device further comprises means for receiving the compressed bitmap data, decompressing it, and printing it, the time for compressing the bitmap data generated based on the print data and the printer device side And a third calculation means for predicting and calculating the time required for the decompression processing in step 1 and the print processing in consideration of the transfer rate of the compressed data, and the transfer means is further calculated by the first to third calculation means. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the respective times are compared, and the data is transferred to the printer in any one format. 9. The electronic device according to claim 8, further comprising means for storing and holding a speed of dot pattern generation processing based on a character code and expansion processing in the printer device. 10. The printer device further includes a cache memory for generating a font pattern, which is connected to the printer device through a bidirectional interface and is stored in the cache memory from the printer device at a predetermined timing. 10. The electronic device according to claim 9, further comprising: a receiving unit that receives the character list information, wherein the transfer unit also adds the received character list information to the selection condition. 11. The printer device and the electronic device each have means for measuring their own processing power at the power-on stage, and in the printer device, the measured processing power is measured by the electronic device via the bidirectional interface. The electronic device according to claim 10, further comprising: a transfer unit that transfers the electronic device to the device. 12. A method of controlling an electronic device for transferring print data to a printer device, wherein a first processing time required for printing by the printer is predicted and calculated based on print data including a normal character code. A step of predicting and calculating a second processing time required when the bit map is developed by itself and transferred to the printer device for printing based on the print data; An electronic device comprising: a step of comparing first and second processing times; and a step of transferring either one of the print data and the bit-mapped data to the printer based on the comparison result. How to control equipment. 13. When the printer device further includes means for receiving the compressed bitmap data, decompressing the bitmap data, and printing the compressed bitmap data, the time for compressing the bitmap data generated based on the print data and the printer device side Decompression processing, and further comprises a step of predicting and calculating a third processing time related to the printing processing in which the transfer rate of the compressed data is added, and the transfer step includes first to third processing times obtained by the calculation. 13. The method for controlling an electronic device according to claim 12, wherein the data is transferred to the printer device in any one format by comparing the above. 14. The method of controlling an electronic device according to claim 13, further comprising a step of storing and holding a speed of dot pattern generation processing based on a character code and expansion processing in the printer device. 15. The printer device further comprises a cache memory for generating a font pattern, which is connected to the printer device through a bidirectional interface and is stored in the cache memory from the printer device at a predetermined timing. 15. The method for controlling an electronic device according to claim 14, further comprising the step of receiving the character list information that is displayed, wherein the transfer step adds the received character list information to the selection condition. 16. The printer device and the electronic apparatus each measure a processing capacity of itself at a power-on stage, and in the printer apparatus, the measured processing capacity is measured by the electronic device via the bidirectional interface. 16. The method for controlling an electronic device according to claim 15, further comprising a step of transferring to the device.