JPH08147117A - Output method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To automatically constitute optimum output device control information in accordance with the constitution of an output device and contents of the object of an output object with respect to the output method where an information processor processes object control information corresponding to the object of the output object to constitute the output device control information and transmits output device control information to the output device through a two-way interface to output the object. CONSTITUTION: At the time of constituting printer control information 506, a printer 15 transmits a control information group 504 for processing, which is required to select the processing method of object control information 502 in accordance with the constitution of the printer 15, in response to a request 503 of a printer control program 500 of a host computer. The print control program 500 receives the control information group 504 for processing to select the processing method of object control information 502 based on this group 504 for processing and contents of the object.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an output method, and more specifically, in a system in which an information processing device of a host such as a computer and an output device such as a printer are connected via an interactive interface, the information processing device outputs Of the object, the object control information corresponding to the object is processed to construct output device control information, and the output device control information is transmitted to the output device to output the object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the above system, for example, in a system in which a host computer and a printer are connected via a bidirectional interface, the host computer has object control information corresponding to an object such as a character, an image, or a figure to be output (for example, In the case of an image, the image data itself and the information such as the width, height, color, and data size of the image are subjected to processing such as compression, enlargement, and reduction, and printer control information (output operation of the object to the printer is performed. The control information described in a predetermined printer control language) is constructed and transmitted to the printer to print the object.

In the conventional output method of such a system, when the host computer constructs the printer control information, the object control information processing, for example, the image data compression processing, is performed by a predetermined fixed processing method. Or, the process was set by the user.

[0004]

However, when processing is performed by a fixed processing method, it is not possible to cope with the difference in printer configuration and capability, and inappropriate printer control information is constructed by a processing method that is not appropriate for the printer configuration and capability. There is a problem that it may be.

On the other hand, when the user sets the processing method, the user has to judge whether the processing method is effective or not, and in many cases, the judgment is incorrect and inappropriate printer control information is constructed. . It is difficult to select the optimal processing method according to the difference in the printer configuration, and the optimal processing method is selected according to the difference in the object contents (characters, images, graphics, whether there is halftone in the image etc.) It is also difficult to do. Further, it is more difficult to select the optimum processing method for the entire system and the optimum printer control information for both the printer configuration and the content of the object.

Such a problem is not limited to the output method in the printer, but is common to the output method in other output devices such as a display.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide output device control information for causing the output device to output in the system in which the information processing device of the host and the output device are connected via the bidirectional interface. An object of the present invention is to provide an output method capable of automatically constructing optimum output device control information according to the configuration of an output device and the content of an object to be output, when constructing.

[0008]

To solve the above problems, according to the present invention, in a system in which an information processing device of a host and an output device are connected via a bidirectional interface, the information processing device outputs In the output method for processing the object control information corresponding to the object to construct output device control information, and transmitting the output device control information to the output device to output the object. In this case, a first step of requesting the output device to transmit processing control information necessary for the information processing device to select a processing method of the object control information according to the configuration of the output device, A second step of transmitting to the information processing device the processing control information stored or created by the output device receiving the request; A third step of selecting a processing method of the object control information based on the processing control information received from the output device and the content of the object, and constructing the output device control information by the selected processing method; A first configuration including: and a first configuration in which, when constructing the output device control information, the information processing device provisionally constructs the output device control information and transmits at least a part of the information to the output device. And the output device receives at least a part of the temporarily constructed output device control information, determines whether the temporarily constructed output device control information is appropriate for the configuration of the output device, and A second step of transmitting result information to the information processing device, a book of the output device control information based on the information of the determination result received by the information processing device and the content of the object. Adopting a second configuration and a third step of performing built.

[0009]

According to the above first configuration, the information processing device is
The processing control information necessary for selecting the processing method of the object control information according to the configuration of the output device is provided from the output device, and the processing method of the object control information is determined based on the information and the content of the object to be output. Since the output device control information is selected and constructed by the selected processing method, the optimum output device control information can be automatically constructed in accordance with the configuration of the output device and the contents of the object.

According to the second configuration, the information processing apparatus is provided with the information of the determination result of the output apparatus determining whether the temporarily constructed output apparatus control information is appropriate for the configuration of the output apparatus, and the information is provided. Since the main construction of the output device control information is carried out based on the contents of the object and the object, the optimum construction of the output device control information can be automatically built according to the structure of the output device and the contents of the object.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, an embodiment relating to print output in a host computer and a printer connected via a bidirectional interface will be shown.

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the mechanical structure of a printer used for printout in this embodiment. This printer is configured as a laser beam printer.

In FIG. 1, a printer indicated by 15 in its entirety operates according to printer control information transferred from a host computer connected via a bidirectional interface, and creates patterns such as characters, images, figures, and forms. Then, the image is printed on a recording sheet, which is a recording medium.

Reference numeral 1501 is a switch and LE for operation.
An operation panel on which a D display device and the like are arranged, and 50 is a printer control unit which controls the entire printer 15 and analyzes printer control information supplied from the host computer. The printer control unit 50 is
A character code or image data is converted into a video signal of a corresponding character or image image pattern and output to the laser driver 1502.

The laser driver 1502 is a semiconductor laser 1.
A circuit for driving 503, which turns on / off a laser beam 1504 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1503 in accordance with an input video signal. The laser beam 1504 is oscillated in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 1505, and the electrostatic drum 15
The upper part of 06 is scanned and exposed. As a result, the electrostatic drum 15
On 06, an electrostatic latent image of a pattern of images of characters and images will be formed. This latent image is the electrostatic drum 150.
After being developed as a toner image by the developing unit 1507 arranged around 6, the toner image is transferred to the recording paper.

A standard size cut sheet is used as the recording sheet. The recording paper is a paper cassette 1 attached to the printer 15.
The sheet is housed in the apparatus 508, taken into the apparatus by the sheet feeding roller 1509 and the conveying rollers 1510 and 1511, and supplied to the electrostatic drum 1506.

Further, the printer 15 is provided with at least one or more card slots (not shown) so that an optional font card, a control card (emulation card) having a different printer control language, etc. can be connected in addition to the built-in font. There is.

Next, FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the control system of the host computer 30 and the printer 15. Here, the host computer 30 and the printer 15 are connected in a one-to-one relationship, but the present invention can be applied to a system in which one or both of them are connected to each other or a system in which print output is performed via a network such as a LAN. .

In the host computer 30 shown in FIG.
Reference numeral 40 is the control unit. The control unit 40 is provided with a CPU 1 for executing document processing (including spreadsheet) in which characters, images, figures, or tables are mixed based on a document processing program or the like stored in the program ROM 32. The CPU 1 generally controls each connected device.

The program ROM 32 stores a control program for the CPU 1 and the like, and the font ROM 31 stores font data used in the above document processing.
The data ROM 33 stores various data (for example, status data, image compression data) used when performing the above document processing and the like.

Reference numeral 2 is a RAM, which is a main memory of the CPU 1,
Functions as a work area, etc.

A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls inputs from the keyboard 9 and a pointing device (not shown). A CRT controller (CRTC) 6 controls the display on the CRT display 10. Reference numeral 7 denotes an external memory controller (MC), which is specifically configured as a disk controller (DKC) or the like, and is a hard disk device or a floppy disk device that stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files, etc. Access to the external memory 11, etc. is controlled.

A printer controller (PRTC) 8 is connected to the printer 15 via a predetermined bidirectional interface 21 and executes communication control processing with the printer 15.

22 is a compression / expansion controller (COM
In P), data compression and decompression are performed at high speed. This controller 22 may be provided as hardware,
The CPU 1 may execute the processing by software. The CPU 1 also executes outline font rasterization processing on the display information RAM set in the RAM 2, for example, and the CRT display 1
WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You G
et) is possible.

Further, the CPU 1 is the CRT display 1
0, various windows registered based on commands designated by a mouse cursor or the like (not shown) are opened, and various data processing is executed. Further, the CPU 1 is shown in FIG.
~ The printer control program whose processing procedure is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7 is executed, printer control information is constructed, the printer control information is transmitted to the printer 15 via the bidirectional interface 21, and the printer 15 prints out. Let

On the other hand, in the printer 15, 50 is the above-mentioned printer control unit. In the configuration of the printer control unit 50, 12 is a CPU, which controls various devices connected to the system bus 25 based on a control program or the like stored in the program ROM 132 or a control program or the like stored in the external memory 14. Printing unit I / F (interface) 1 that controls overall
The printing unit connected via 6 (1502 to 15 in FIG. 1)
An image signal as output information is output to a printer engine 17 including a member such as 07.

In the program ROM 132, the CPU 12 whose processing procedure is shown in the flowcharts of FIGS.
The control program and the like are stored. ROM for font 13
1 stores font data and the like used when generating the output information, and the data ROM 133 stores information and the like used on the host computer in the case of a printer having no external memory 14 such as a hard disk device. ing.

The CPU 12 can communicate with the host computer 30 via the input unit 18, and can notify the information in the printer 15 to the host computer 30.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a RAM which functions as a main memory and a work area of the CPU 12, and is constructed so that the memory capacity can be expanded by an optional RAM connected to an expansion port (not shown). RAM19
Is an output information expansion area, environment data storage area, NVRA
Used as M etc. Data such as printer mode setting information from the operation panel 1501 is stored in the NVRAM.

Access to the external memory 14 such as the above-mentioned hard disk device or IC card is controlled by an external memory controller (MC) 20 including a disk controller. The external memory 14 is connected as an option and stores optional font data, emulation programs, form data, and the like. External memory 1
The number 4 is not limited to one, and in addition to the built-in font, an optional font card, an external memory storing a program for interpreting a printer control language of a different language system, or the like may be connected.

Reference numeral 1501 denotes the above-mentioned operation panel,
A switch for operation and an LED display are arranged. By inputting data for setting the print mode and print environment by operating the operation panel 1501, the NV of the RAM 19 is displayed.
It can be stored in the RAM area.

Further, 23 is a compression / expansion controller (C
OMP) to compress and decompress data at high speed. The supported compression methods and speeds vary from controller to controller.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a rasterize controller (RST
R), the rasterization of print data is performed at high speed. The desired data format and speed of rasterization vary depending on the controller.

The compression / expansion controller 23 and the rasterize controller 24 are provided as hardware including a dedicated IC, or the CPU 12 is configured to perform the processing by software. Generally, the processing speed is faster when provided by hardware.

Next, the operation when the host computer 30 constructs printer control information for causing the printer 15 to print an object such as a character, image, or graphic to be printed out in the above-described configuration will be described. The printer control information is control information described in a predetermined printer control language corresponding to the printer. For example, when the object is an image, the reference numeral 50 in the lower side of FIG.
6, data of the image itself (for example, raster image data) and data such as image width, height, color row / depth, data size, compression method, etc. Control commands and parameters.
The printer control information is constructed by the host computer 30, and specifically, the CPU of the host computer 30.
1 is constructed by a printer control program (so-called printer driver). The printer control program is stored in the program ROM 32 or read from the external memory 11 into the RAM 2 for use.

In the following description, the information corresponding to the object passed from the application program for creating a document on the host computer 30 to the printer control program as a print target is referred to as object control information. When the object is an image, for example, the object control information includes the data of the image itself, the width, the height, and the color row / depth of the image, as schematically indicated by reference numeral 502 in the upper side of FIG. , And data such as data size.

First, the outline of the operation will be described.

A print request is issued from the application program to the printer control program on the host computer 30, and the object control information to be printed is passed.

The printer control program needs to process the object control information and convert the representation of the object control information into the representation of the printer control information (the object control information may be used as it is as the printer control information).

Here, when the printer control information is constructed,
For example, it is assumed that a plurality of types of processing methods can be selected for the processing of the object control information, such as compression, expansion, or reduction processing of image data. It is preferable that this selection is not affected by various conditions, but if the configuration of the printer 15 has a compression / expansion controller 23, a rasterize controller 24, etc., and a specific processing capability is improved, it responds to the processing method. There is a case where the ability of the printer to operate differs from the usual assumption. Alternatively, the compression / decompression controller 23 having different configurations and capabilities for each printer
If there is a rasterizing controller 24 or the like, the ability of the printer to respond to the processing method varies, and it is complicated and difficult to select the optimum processing method and construct the optimum printer control information accordingly.

Therefore, a group of processing control information necessary for selecting the optimum processing method (each characteristic of the processing method that can be handled by the printer configuration, information capacity of the printer responding thereto, selection conditions, etc.) is provided. The printer control program is stored in the data ROM 133 of the printer 15 or the external memory 14 or is prepared so that the CPU 12 of the printer 15 can check the configuration of the printer 15 to construct the printer control information. On the other hand, processing for requesting and transmitting the processing control information group through the bidirectional interface 21 is performed. That is, the printer controller 8 requests the printer 15 to transfer the processing control information group.

On the other hand, on the printer 15 side, the processing control information group is stored in the data ROM 133 or the external memory 14.
Or read the configuration of the printer 15,
Based on this, a processing control information group is created or transferred from the input unit 18 to the host computer 30.

If the processing control information is stored in the RAM 2 of the host computer 30, the data ROM 33, or the external memory 11, it may be used. In addition, the contents of the drawing object (characters, images, graphics, etc., and what kind of image, such as the presence or absence of halftone if it is an image) can be displayed without using all the processing control information groups. It is also possible to investigate and extract only necessary processing control information according to the contents and use it for constructing printer control information.

When the processing control information group is obtained in this way, the printer control program selects a processing method of the object control information based on the processing control information group and the contents of the object, and the processing method selected as a result is selected. Process object control information to build printer control information.

When constructing the printer control information,
The printer control program transfers to the printer 15 the confirmation request information added with the temporarily constructed printer control information (here, control command and parameter data not including actual drawing object data).

On the other hand, on the printer 15 side, the printer control information provisionally constructed based on the information obtained from the configuration or the information for judgment obtained from the data ROM 133, the external memory 14 or the RAM 19 is used.
It is determined whether or not it is appropriate for the configuration and ability of the host computer, and the determination information of the determination result is input from the input unit 18 to the host computer
Transfer to.

The printer control program of the host computer 30 receives the determination information, and if the content determines that the printer is suitable, then the printer control information including the data of the drawing object itself is constructed.
When it is determined that there is a problem, different printer control information is provisionally constructed, and the determination of the printer 15 is entrusted.

Here, even if the printer control information that is optimum for both the configuration and capabilities of the printer 15 and the contents of the drawing object cannot be constructed (it can be determined that it is not optimum for both), the processing control information related to both is still available. The printer control program constructs the optimum printer control information for the entire system by selecting the control information that is appropriate for both the configuration and capabilities of the printer 15 and the content of the drawing object, because the printer control programs are available. Is possible.

As described above, the printer control program constructs the printer control information by using the processing control information group and the information on the determination result. The printer control information constructed by the printer control program accurately and automatically reflects the configuration and capabilities of the printer on the drawing object. That is, it is possible to automatically construct optimum printer control information for the entire system according to the configuration of the printer 15 and the contents of the drawing object. There is no need for the user to make any settings according to the printer configuration and the contents of the object to build the printer control information, and the optimum printer control information is automatically built according to the printer configuration and the contents of the object. To obtain the optimum output.

It should be noted that in the concept described so far, it is possible to perform processing in which the relative positions of the host computer and the printer are reversed (the printer builds control information of the host computer).

In the above description, the printer control information is constructed based on both the processing control information group and the judgment result information, but only the processing control information group or the judgment result information is constructed. On the basis of only, the construction may be performed according to it and the contents of the object.

Next, a more specific operation will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, the object requested to be drawn is an image, and when constructing the print control information, the compression method for compressing the image data of the object is selected by giving priority to speed within a range that does not deteriorate the image quality of the image. The operation for constructing the printer control information will be described.

As shown in FIG. 3, the host computer 3
0 is a print request to the printer control program 500 on the image control information 5 to be printed.
02 is passed. The printer control program 500 needs to process the image object control information 502 and represent it as the printer control information 506, and as described above, it is necessary to construct the optimum printer control information 506 according to the configuration of the printer and the content of the object. is there.

Therefore, the printer control program 500 sends the image object control information 50 to the printer 15.
A data request 503 for the processing control information is issued to the printer 15 so as to transfer the processing control information necessary for selecting the second processing method.

In response to this, the printer 15 side transfers the processing control information group 504 to the host computer 30.
The processing control information group 504 to be transferred is a control information group related to various processes for processing the image object control information 502 to construct the printer control information 506,
Here, it is assumed that a compression processing control information group is included, as a plurality of types of compression processing for compressing image data in the image object control information 506 can be selected. The compression processing control information group includes a device flag that indicates the characteristics of each compression method that the printer requires for the selection of the compression method depending on the configuration and the ability of the printer that responds to the method, and the selection conditions for each compression method. The calculation amount (calculation time) of the process is included.

Among the compression methods indicated by the compression processing control information group in the processing control information group 504, the one which can maintain the printing quality and has a high processing speed is judged by the device flag and extracted (before that, It is also possible to investigate the content and narrow it down according to the content) and use it to construct the printer control information 506.

Calculation amount of processing for each of the extracted compression methods,
A target size (with respect to the data size of the image object control information 502) calculated from the calculation amount, a data size after compression, and the like are obtained, and a compression buffer is prepared. The buffer does not necessarily have to be prepared, and RA
It is ensured in accordance with the status of the free space of M2 and the contents of the compression processing control information. Allocate a buffer for the image size to all compression methods when there is enough capacity in RAM2, allocate a buffer for the image size only to multiple or single compression methods, and release the allocated ones while watching the evaluation results. It is possible to do so, or to allocate no buffer at all when there is no capacity available.

Next, the image data of the image object control information 502 is sequentially compressed by each of the above-mentioned extracted compression methods, and the compression method which is determined not to reach the target size is removed from the selection target. Go. In this way, a certain compression method or a processing method is finally determined without compression. No compression is also included in the options, so processing control information regarding no compression is also prepared.

When the compression method is determined in this way, the image object control information 502 is selected according to the compression method.
Image data is compressed to build printer control information 506, which is sent to the printer 15 to print an image object.

Not only the compression processing but also other processing such as image enlargement and reduction processing is selected in the same manner as described above, and the image object control information 502 is processed by the processing method of the selection result. Printer control information 506 can be constructed.

Here, even if the printer control information 506 that is optimal for both the configuration and capabilities of the printer 15 and the content of the image object cannot be constructed (it is possible to determine that it is not optimal for both), processing for both is performed. Since the control information is available, the printer control program 5
00 is capable of constructing optimum printer control information 506 for the entire system by selecting a processing method capable of appropriately balancing both the configuration and capabilities of the printer 15 and the content of the image object.

In this way, the printer control program 5
The printer control information 506 constructed by 00 accurately and automatically reflects the configuration and capability of the printer 501 in the image object control information 502. Therefore, the system always builds optimum printer control information.

Next, the processing 505 for selecting the compression method by the printer control program of FIG. 3 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, the printer control program 5
00 first receives the processing control information group 504. From the processing control information group 504, the device flag of each compression method of the processing control information group related to the compression method is used to judge and extract the compression method that can maintain the quality and the high speed, and construct the printer control information 506. use.

Depending on the device flag, for example, compression method 1,
If 2 and 3 are extracted, reference numerals 611 to 61
4, the calculation amount (calculation time) of processing, the target size calculated from the calculation amount, the data size after compression, etc. are calculated for each of the no compression and the compression methods 1, 2, and 3.
A buffer for compression is prepared in some cases, and the compression method list 610 is created. FIG. 4 shows a case where a buffer is prepared only for the compression method 1 and no buffer is prepared for the other methods.

Next, the image data in the image object control information is sequentially compressed by the compression methods 1, 2, and 3. Compression method 1 with buffer
Then, the compressed data is written into the buffer while counting the data size after compression. In the compression methods 2 and 3 in which no buffer is prepared, only the data size after compression is counted and writing to the buffer is not performed.

If, for example, it is determined that the compression method 3 does not reach the target size at all during the compression, it is excluded from the selection targets as indicated by reference numeral 624 in the compression method list 620.

If further compression is performed and it is determined that the compression method 2 does not reach the target size, for example,
As indicated by reference numeral 633 in the compression method list 630, it is excluded from the selection targets.

Finally, if compression method 1 meets the target size, no compression is deselected as indicated by reference numeral 641 in compression list 640, and compression method 1 indicated by reference numeral 640 is determined as the processing method.

Since a buffer is prepared in this compression method 1 and the compression processing has been completed, the printer control information 650 is constructed using the resulting data.
In this way, the optimum printer control information 506 is constructed.

Next, the above-mentioned printer control program 5
Details of the processing by 00 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. In the following flow chart, the portions A and F having the same reference numerals have continuous flows.

First, if there is a drawing request, first the type of object to be printed is determined (step 70 in FIG. 5).
1). If the object is an image (step 702), it is determined whether or not the image is correct (step 703). If it is correct, the contents and properties of the image are analyzed (step 704). Is not performed and the process returns to step 701.

After analyzing the contents and characteristics of the image, it is judged whether or not the contents and characteristics of the image are different from those before (step 705), and if they are different, a request for image processing control information is sent to the printer (step). 706).
If they are the same, the process proceeds to steps 714 and 715 described later. Note that the processing of steps 714 and 715 is processing for reusing previously used data, and may be performed every time.

Next, it is determined whether or not there is a group of image processing control information from the printer (step 71 in FIG. 6).
1) If there is, the compression method is narrowed down by looking at the device flag of the control information group (step 712) and the operation amount of the device in the control information group is stored (step 713).
If there is no image processing control information group from the printer, the compression method is narrowed down by looking at the previous data or the data prepared in advance by the program (step 71).
4) The calculation amount based on the previous data or the calculation amount prepared in advance is stored (step 715).

Next, the target size after compression of the image data of the object is set for the compression method that has been selected as a candidate (step 716).

Next, it is judged whether or not the memory has a margin (step 717).
If there is, select a compression method that is more appropriate depending on the content and nature of the image (step 718), and confirm the default processing method (step 71).
9), reserve a buffer according to the memory condition (step 720).

Next, the processing for the image data (see FIG.
730) is performed for each compression method selected in step 718 (step 731). The processing contents are steps 732 to 739.

That is, first, the image data is temporarily compressed by one of the selected compression methods (step 732). Next, it is judged whether or not the buffer is secured for the compression method (step 733), and if secured, the compression result is written in the buffer (step 734). If the buffer is not secured, only the count of the counter that counts the compressed size is advanced. Next, the size after compression is written as the data size (step 73).
5). Next, it is determined whether the data size after compression by the compression method does not reach the target size (step 736), and if it does not reach the target size, the compression method is excluded from the processing target (step 737). Also, it is judged whether or not the compression method to be removed has a buffer (step 73).
8) If there is a buffer, that buffer is also released (step 739).

After the image data is processed for each compression method in this way, it is judged whether or not there is a compression method within the target size (step 750). If not, the image data is not compressed. (Step 7
51) If there is a compression method within the target size, the compression method with the highest ratio to the target size is determined (step 752). Note that in FIG. 7, this determination is written to be performed after the image data processing for the sake of explanation, but it may be determined during the image data processing or before the processing.

Next, it is judged whether or not the determined method has a buffer in which the compressed image data is stored (step 753). If not, the buffer is created and the image data is main-compressed. And stores it in the buffer (step 754).

Next, the compressed image data in the buffer of the processing result and the data such as the control command and the parameter are collectively sent as printer control information to the printer (step 755), and the processing is ended (return to step 701).

Next, the printer 15 responds to the data request of the image processing control information from the host computer 30.
The processing of the CPU 12 by the internal program will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

If there is a data request from the host computer 30 (step 801) and the request is a data request for image processing control information (step 802),
It is determined whether or not the request is correct (step 803), and if it is not correct, the process is not performed. If the request is correct, the data request code is analyzed for a parameter indicating the type of data requested (step 80).
4) If the content is related to the compression method (step 805), check the printer configuration (step 8).
06), the corresponding data is searched from the storage area of the data ROM 133 (step 807).

Then, it is judged whether or not there is data (step 808), and if there is data, the data is processed and sent to the host computer 30 (step 809). If there is no data, it is judged as an error and the host computer 30 is notified that there is no data (step 810).

In this way, the host computer 30
It is possible to send data of the image processing control information group regarding the compression method, for example, in response to a request from the user.

Next, the processing of the CPU 12 of the printer 15 in response to an image drawing request from the host computer 30 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, when there is a drawing request, the type of the requested object is judged (step 821), and when the request is for an image (step 82).
2) It is determined whether the image is correct (step 823).

If the image is not correct, the process is not performed. If it is correct, the parameter in the drawing request code is analyzed (step 824), and if the content is related to the compression method (step 825). ,
It is determined by the data of the parameter whether the image data is compressed (step 826). If it is not compressed, the image data is directly passed to the printing unit I / F 17 to be printed (step 83).
0).

On the other hand, if the image data is compressed, it is determined whether the image data compression format is not a format supported by the compression / expansion controller 23 (step 827).
If the compression format is supported, the image data is passed to the compression / expansion controller 23 and expanded (step 829). If the compression format is not supported, the CPU 12 itself expands the image data (step 828). Then, the developed image data is passed to the printing unit I / F 16 and printed by the printing unit 17 (step 830).

In this way, when the host computer 30 makes an image drawing request and the image data is compressed, it can be expanded and printed.

Although the embodiment of the output method in the system of the host computer and the printer has been described above, the present invention can be applied to a system using an output device other than the printer, for example, a display device. Further, the information processing device of the host is not limited to the computer, but may be a workstation, a word processor, or the like.

[0092]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, in a system in which an information processing device of a host and an output device are connected via a bidirectional interface, the information processing device is an object to be output. In the output method of processing the corresponding object control information to construct the output device control information and transmitting the output device control information to the output device to output the object, in constructing the output device control information, The information processing apparatus is provided with processing control information necessary for selecting a processing method of object control information according to the configuration of the output apparatus from the output apparatus,
The object control information processing method is selected based on the information and the content of the output target object, and the output device control information is constructed by this processing method. The optimum output device control information can be automatically constructed.

Further, when the output device control information is constructed, the information processing device is provided with the information of the determination result determined by the output device whether the temporarily constructed output device control information is suitable for the configuration of the output device, By performing the main construction of the output device control information based on the information and the content of the object,
It is also possible to automatically construct the optimum output device control information according to the configuration of the output device and the content of the object.

In any case, there is no need for the user to make any setting according to the configuration of the output device and the contents of the object in order to construct the output device control information. An excellent effect is obtained in that the optimum output device control information can be automatically constructed and the optimum output can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a mechanical configuration of a printer used for printout in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of a host computer and a printer of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram that schematically shows the processing contents when the printer control information is constructed by the printer control program of the host computer in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the details of processing by the printer control program in more detail.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure by the printer control program.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure by the printer control program.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure by the printer control program.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure by an internal program of the printer of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure by an internal program of the printer of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 12 CPU 2, 19 RAM 5 Keyboard controller 6 CRT controller 7, 20 External memory controller 8 Printer controller 9 Keyboard 10 CRT display 11, 14 External memory 15 Printer 16 Printing unit interface 17 Printing unit 18 Input unit 21 Bidirectional interface 22, 23 Compression / decompression controller 24 Rasterization controller 30 Host computer 31, 131 Font ROM 32, 132 Program ROM 33, 133 Data ROM

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a system in which an information processing device of a host and an output device are connected via a bidirectional interface, the information processing device processes object control information corresponding to an object to be output and constructs output device control information. Then, in the output method for transmitting the output device control information to the output device to output the object, the information processing device, when constructing the output device control information, processes the object control information as described above. The first step of requesting the output device to transmit the processing control information necessary for selection according to the configuration of the output device, and the processing control information stored or created by the output device that has received the request A second step of transmitting to the information processing device, the processing control information received by the information processing device from the output device, and the object. Select the processing method of the object control information based on the content of the extract, the third to perform the construction of the output device control information by the processing method the selected
And an output method. 2. In a system in which an information processing device of a host and an output device are connected via a bidirectional interface, the information processing device processes object control information corresponding to an object to be output and constructs output device control information. In the output method of transmitting the output device control information to the output device to output the object, the information processing device temporarily constructs the output device control information when the output device control information is constructed. ,
Transmitting at least a part of the information to the output device,
And the output device receives at least a part of the temporarily constructed output device control information, determines whether the temporarily constructed output device control information is suitable for the configuration of the output device, and A second step of transmitting result information to the information processing device; and a third step of performing main construction of the output device control information based on the information of the determination result received by the information processing device and the content of the object. And an output method.