JPH09190310A - Output device, information processing system and data output method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the processing speed and to improve the efficiency of a work area. SOLUTION: Various types of information are acquired from a host computer in a job control language (S41). Based on these information, a program that can analyze the printer control language data is started (S42). Then only the commands that are used in the designated command modes are picked up out of a command search table based on the information stored in this table to process all processible commands that are stored in a ROM, and these picked commands are stored in a RAM in the form of a new command search table (S43). Then a work area is initialized for the commands which are contained in the new command search table (S44).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an output device such as a printer to which a host computer is connected, an information processing system including the output device, and a data output method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a command search table for command analysis in a control program in a printer or the like is stored in a ROM area, and a command work area (necessary at the time of execution) is stored in a RAM when the command analysis program is activated. Secure work area) and perform initialization processing (clear 0, secure memory, etc.).

Regarding font processing, the font data in the device is read at the start of data processing, and RA
A font information table is created on M to secure a work area for font processing and perform initialization processing.

[0004]

However, in the above conventional example, as the number of commands held by the emulation increases, the work area required by the command group increases, and the RAM area used for download, page memory, etc. is reduced. There was a problem of pressure.

In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention is an output device capable of speeding up processing and improving work area efficiency.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system equipped with this output device, and a data output method thereof.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention receives data separated by a control language from an external device and initializes a command in the control language, In an output device that performs an output process based on the data, a determining unit that determines the type of data, a command limiting unit that limits the command to be used, and the command limiting unit based on the data type obtained by the determining unit. A construction means for constructing a command search table limited to the control commands to be processed by using, and an initialization means for carrying out the initialization processing only for the commands included in the command search table constructed by the construction means. It is a thing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the type of data indicates the type of printer control language.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the type of data indicates the type of command mode in the printer control language.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the data type indicates a type of a program for creating data in an external device.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the above first aspect of the invention, a command information including information of a command to be used or a command not to be used, or a command search table can be registered in advance from an external device. is there.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the output device which receives data from an external device and performs an output process based on the data by using a command search table for analyzing the command, frequency information of command usage is recorded. Frequency information recording means, storage means for storing the use frequency information in a non-volatile memory, and a search table for reading the use frequency information stored by the storage means and constructing the command search table based on the use frequency information And a construction means.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned sixth aspect, the search table construction means constructs the command search table by arranging commands in order of frequency of use.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned sixth aspect, the search table construction means constructs a command search table of only high-frequency commands.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned sixth aspect, the nonvolatile memory is an NVRAM.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the above-described sixth aspect, a plurality of work area securing means for securing a work area for processing a command, and a priority for securing the work area according to the frequency of use in the command search table are given. Priority setting means for setting the order, and area allocation executing means for executing one work area securing means from the plurality of work area securing means in accordance with the work area securing priority set by the priority ranking setting means. Be prepared.

According to the invention of claim 11, in the invention of claim 6, the frequency information stored in the non-volatile memory is used for determining the type of input data.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned sixth aspect of the invention, the data separated by the control language from the external device is received, font initialization processing is performed, and output processing is performed based on the data. In the device, a determination means for determining the type of data, a font limiting means for limiting the font used, and a font to be processed by the font limiting means based on the data type obtained by the determining means. It is provided with a construction means for constructing a limited font table and an initialization means for carrying out the initialization processing only for the fonts included in the font table constructed by the construction means.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the above-described twelfth aspect of the invention, the data type indicates the type of printer control language.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the above-described twelfth aspect of the present invention, the data type indicates the type of command mode in the printer control language.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the invention of the twelfth aspect, the data type indicates a type of a program for creating data by an external device.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the font information table for the data type can be registered in advance from an external device.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, according to the twelfth aspect of the invention, a font information including information of a font to be used or a font not to be used can be registered in advance from an external device.

According to the eighteenth aspect of the present invention, a host computer for generating data separated by a control language, and receiving the data sent from the host computer to initialize a command in the control language. In the information processing system including an output device that performs an output process based on the data, the output device includes a determination unit that determines a data type, a command limiting unit that limits a command used, and the determination unit. Constructing means for constructing a command search table limited to the control commands to be processed by using the command limiting means based on the data type obtained by the means, and commands included in the command search table constructed by the constructing means Only the initialization means for performing the initialization process is provided.

According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the above eighteenth aspect, the data type indicates a type of printer control language.

According to a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the above eighteenth aspect, the data type indicates a command mode type in the printer control language.

According to a twenty-first aspect of the invention, in the eighteenth aspect of the invention, the data type indicates a type of a program for creating data in an external device.

According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned eighteenth aspect, a command information including information of a command to be used or a command not to be used, or a command search table can be registered in advance from an external device. is there.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, a host computer that generates data, an output device that receives data from the host computer, and uses a command search table for analyzing commands to perform output processing based on the data. In the information processing system including the above, the output device includes a frequency information recording unit that records command use frequency information, a storage unit that stores the frequency information in a non-volatile memory, and a use frequency stored by the storage unit. It is provided with a search table construction means for reading out information and constructing a command search table based on the usage frequency information.

According to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned twenty-third aspect, the search table construction means constructs the command search table by arranging commands in order of frequency of use.

A thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned twenty-third aspect of the present invention, wherein the retrieval table construction means constructs a command retrieval table of only high-frequency commands.

A twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention is the above-mentioned twenty-third aspect of the invention, wherein the non-volatile memory is an NVRAM.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned twenty-third aspect, a plurality of work area reserving means for reserving a work area for command processing, and a work area reservation priority according to the frequency of use in the command search table. Priority setting means for setting the order, and area allocation executing means for executing one work area securing means from the plurality of work area securing means in accordance with the work area securing priority set by the priority ranking setting means. Be prepared.

The invention of claim 28 is based on the invention of claim 23, wherein the frequency information stored in the nonvolatile memory is used for determining the type of input data.

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, a host computer which generates data separated by a control language from an external device, receives the data from the host computer, performs font initialization processing, and based on the data. In an information processing system including an output device for performing output processing, the output device includes a determination unit that determines a data type, a font limiting unit that limits a font to be used, and data obtained by the determination unit. Constructing means for constructing a font table limited to the fonts to be processed by the font limiting means based on the type, and initializing the initializing process only for the fonts included in the font table constructed by the constructing means. It is provided with a conversion means.

According to a thirtieth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned twenty-ninth aspect of the invention, the data type indicates a type of printer control language.

According to a thirty-first aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned twenty-ninth aspect, the data type indicates a command mode type in the printer control language.

According to a thirty-second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned twenty-ninth aspect, the data type indicates a type of a program for creating data in an external device.

According to a thirty-third aspect of the present invention, in the thirty-ninth aspect of the invention, the font information table for the data type can be registered in advance from an external device.

According to a thirty-fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned thirty-ninth aspect of the invention, a font information including information of a font to be used or a font not to be used can be registered in advance from an external device.

A thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention is a data output method for receiving data separated by a control language from an external device, performing initialization processing of a command in the control language, and performing output processing based on the data. A table that builds a command search table that limits the control commands to be processed based on the determination process for determining the type of data, the command limiting process for limiting the commands used, and the data type obtained by the determination process. After performing the construction processing, the initialization processing is performed only for the commands included in the command search table constructed by the table construction processing.

According to a thirty-sixth aspect of the invention, in the thirty-fifth aspect of the invention, the data type indicates a type of printer control language.

According to a thirty-seventh aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned thirty-fifth aspect, the data type indicates the type of command mode in the printer control language.

According to a thirty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned thirty-fifth aspect, the data type indicates a type of a program for creating data in an external device.

According to a thirty-ninth aspect of the present invention, in the thirty-fifth aspect of the present invention, command information including information of a command to be used or a command not to be used, or a command search table is registered in advance from an external device.

According to a forty-third aspect of the invention, in the data output method for receiving data from an external device and performing an output process based on the data using a command search table for analyzing the command, the command use frequency information is displayed. A frequency information recording process of recording, a storage process of storing the frequency information in a non-volatile memory, and a search table for reading the use frequency information stored by the storage process and constructing the command search table based on the use frequency information The construction process is executed.

According to a 41st aspect of the present invention, in the above 40th aspect of the invention, the search table construction process constructs the command search table by arranging commands in order of frequency of use.

According to a 42nd aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned 40th aspect of the invention, the search table construction processing constructs a command search table of only high-frequency commands.

According to a 43rd aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned 40th aspect, the nonvolatile memory is an NVRAM.

According to a 44th aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned 40th aspect of the invention, a plurality of work area securing processes for securing a work area for command processing, and a work area securing priority according to the frequency of use in the command search table. A priority order setting process for setting a priority order and an area reservation execution process for executing one work area reservation process from the plurality of work area reservation processes according to the work area reservation priority set by the priority order setting process. It is the one that is supposed to be executed.

According to a forty-fifth aspect of the present invention, the frequency information stored in the non-volatile memory according to the forty-fourth aspect is used for determining the type of input data.

According to a 46th aspect of the present invention, in a data output method for receiving data separated by a control language from an external device, initializing fonts, and performing output processing based on the data, Based on the judgment processing for judging the type, the font restriction processing for restricting the font to be used, and the data classification obtained by the judgment processing, a font table limited to the fonts to be processed is constructed by using the font restriction processing. After the table construction process is performed, the initialization process is performed only on the fonts included in the font table constructed by the table construction process.

According to a 47th aspect of the invention, in the above-mentioned 46th aspect of the invention, the data type indicates the type of printer control language.

According to a forty-eighth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned forty-sixth aspect, the data type indicates a command mode type in the printer control language.

According to a 49th aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned 46th aspect, the data type indicates a type of a program for creating data by an external device.

According to a fiftieth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned fifty-sixth aspect, a font information table for a data type is registered in advance from an external device.

According to a fifty-first aspect of the invention, in the above-mentioned fourty-sixth aspect, font information including information of a font to be used or a font not to be used is previously registered from an external device.

[0057]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of a printer control system (information processing system) according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, a laser beam printer (shown in FIG. 2 described later) will be described as an example. In addition,
It goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to a single device, a system including a plurality of devices, or a system in which processing is performed via a network such as a LAN, as long as the functions of the present invention are executed. Absent.

Reference numeral 300 in FIG. 1 denotes a host computer. The CPU 1 of the host computer 300 is an RO
Document processing in which graphics, images, characters, tables (including spreadsheets, etc.) are mixed is executed based on a document program stored in the program ROM of M3. Furthermore, CPU1
Controls the devices connected to the system bus 4 as a whole. The program ROM of the ROM 3 stores a control program of the CPU 1 as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The font ROM of the ROM 3 stores font data used in the above document processing. And the data ROM of the ROM3
Stores various 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. A keyboard controller (KBC) 5 controls key inputs from the keyboard 9 and a pointing device (not shown). 6 is a CRT
A CRT display (C
RT) 10 display control. A memory controller (MC) 7 controls access to an external memory 11 such as a hard disk (HD) or a floppy disk (FD). The external memory 11 stores a boot program, various applications, font data, user files, edit files and the like.

8 is a printer controller (PRTC)
Then, the printer 100 is connected to the printer 100 via a predetermined bidirectional interface 21 and executes a communication control process with the printer 100. Note that the CPU 1 executes, for example, an outline font rasterization process to the display image RAM set in the RAM 2, and is registered based on a command designated by a mouse cursor (not shown) on the CRT 10. Opens various windows to perform various data processing.

Next, the structure of the printer 100 will be described. Reference numeral 12 denotes a printer CPU, which generally accesses the various devices connected to the system bus 15 based on a control program stored in the program ROM of the ROM 13 or a control program stored in the external memory 14. It controls and outputs the image information as output information to the printing unit (printer engine) 17 connected via the printing unit interface 16. The program ROM of the ROM 13 stores a control program of the CPU 12 as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The data ROM of the ROM 13 stores information and the like used on the host computer 300 in the case of a printer in which the external memory 14 such as a hard disk is not provided. Examples of information used on the host computer 300 include an application name (application software name), an application serial number, a user name for use, and a host name for use. The CPU 12 is capable of performing communication processing with the host computer 300 via the input unit 18, and is configured to be able to notify the host computer 300 of information in the printer.

Reference numeral 19 denotes a RAM which functions as a main memory, a work area, etc. 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). Note that RAM1
9 is an output information development area, environment data storage area, NVR
Used for AM and the like. Hard disk (HD) mentioned above
The access to the external memory 14 such as an IC card is controlled by a memory controller (MC) 20. The external memory 14 is connected as an option, and font data,
It stores an emulation program, form data, and the like. Reference numeral 18 denotes the above-mentioned operation panel, on which switches for operation, an LED display, and the like are arranged.

The above-mentioned external memory is not limited to one, but at least one external memory is provided, and in addition to the built-in font, an option card and a plurality of external memories storing programs for interpreting printer control languages of different languages can be connected. It may be configured as follows. Further, N (not shown)
It is also possible to have a VRAM and store the printer mode setting information from the operation panel 22.

Next, the configuration of a laser beam printer (hereinafter referred to as LBP) to which this embodiment is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the LBP applied to this embodiment. This L
The BP can register a character pattern and a fixed form (form data) from a data source (not shown).

In the figure, reference numeral 100 is an LBP main body, which inputs and stores character information (character code), form information or macro command supplied from an externally connected host computer (300 in FIG. 1). At the same time, a corresponding character pattern, form pattern, or the like is created according to the information, and an image is formed on the recording paper, which is a recording medium. 22 is a switch for operation and L
Operation panel with ED display etc., 101 is L
A printer control unit for controlling the entire BP 100 and analyzing character information and the like supplied from the host computer 300. The control unit 101 mainly converts character information into a video signal having a corresponding character pattern and outputs the video signal to the laser driver 102.

The laser driver 102 is the semiconductor laser 10.
3 is a circuit for driving the laser beam 3, and turns on / off the laser beam 104 emitted from the semiconductor laser 1003 in accordance with the input video signal. The laser beam 104 is swung in the left-right direction by the rotary polygon mirror 105 and scans the electrostatic drum 106. Thus, an electrostatic latent image of a character pattern is formed on the electrostatic drum 106. This latent image is developed by the developing unit 107 around the electrostatic drum 106 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 the sheet cassette 108 mounted on the LBP 100, and the sheet feeding roller 109 and the conveying roller 1 are used.
It is taken into the apparatus by 10 and 111 and supplied to the electrostatic drum 106. Further, the LBP main body 100 is provided with at least one card slot (not shown) so that an option card and a card (emulation card) having a different language system in addition to the built-in font can be connected.

The operation of the printer control system of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described in detail below.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the operation procedure on the host computer side in this embodiment.

As described above, the control program for realizing the control shown in this flowchart is the ROM 3
Stored in. According to this flowchart, the host computer 300 adds command mode information and the like to the print data and outputs it to the printer 100. Printer 1
The data sent to 00 is in the form of print data sandwiched by the job control language as shown in FIG. The printing device identifies the printer control language, performs initialization processing, and the like according to the job control language.

First, the host computer 300 declares the start of data, sends data designating the printer control language used to describe the data (step S31), and then sends the command mode to be used (step S3).
2). The command mode specifies, using the job control language, a graphic print mode, an image print mode, a character print mode, or a combination thereof.

Subsequently, the print data is transmitted (step S3
3) Then, the job control data for declaring that the data has ended is sent (step S34), and the printer performs the ending process according to this data.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation procedure on the printer side in this embodiment.

As described above, the control program for realizing the control shown in this flowchart is stored in the ROM 13. According to this flowchart, by knowing the command mode used before the emulation initialization process, it becomes possible to minimize the memory area required for initialization.

First, various information is obtained from the host computer 300 in the job control language (step S41).
Next, according to the information obtained in step S41, a program (stored in the ROM 13) capable of analyzing the printer control language data is activated (step S42), and the ROM1
From the command search table described in the format shown in FIG. 6 for all command processing that can be processed by the printer stored in No. 3, only the command used in the specified command mode is used by using the information in the search table. And picks it up and creates a new command search table on the RAM 19 (step S4).
3). The work area is initialized for the commands included in the command search table obtained subsequently (step S44). At this time, no processing is performed on commands that are not registered in the command search table.

After that, the print data is analyzed using the created command table, the processing of each control command is performed, and the printed matter is output. When the job control language indicating the end of data is obtained, the end processing corresponding to the initialization processing is performed and the input data waits.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by obtaining the command mode to be used from the host computer, it is possible to reduce the memory area required for the initialization processing as shown in FIG. As a result, the surplus area can be diverted to other processing such as downloading or page memory. Also, since the number of commands can be limited, the time required for initialization can be shortened,
Furthermore, since the command search table becomes smaller, FIG.
Since it is clear that the number of steps required for the search can be reduced as shown in, the total printing time can be shortened.

In the above embodiment, the host computer 300 has been described so as to specify the printer control language used to describe the data and the command mode to be used. However, these may be automatically discriminated from the print data. It is possible. Further, although the description has been made so that the processing of the print data is separated according to the job control language, the separation of the print data can be automatically determined from the print data.

In the above embodiment, the command search table is created for each command mode. However, not only for each printer control language but also for each host computer application, each printer driver, and each version thereof. , It is also possible to limit the commands used. In that case, it is necessary to have the command information for each application in the ROM in advance, or to download it beforehand from the host computer. In addition, the method of limiting the command is to specify the command list to be used, the command list not to be used, or send the command search table directly to the printer according to the internal format depending on the job control language sent before the print data. A method of processing is also possible.

Further, if there is no information that limits these commands, it is possible to construct the command analysis process using the command search table on the ROM instead of creating it on the RAM. There is no end.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The configuration and operation of the first embodiment can be directly applied to this embodiment except for the control program on the printer side shown in FIG. 9 and 10 are flowcharts showing the operation procedure on the printer side in the second embodiment. A control program that realizes the control shown in this flowchart is stored in the ROM 13.
According to this flowchart, the command search table is rearranged using the frequency information stored in the NVRAM, so that the command search can be performed efficiently.

First, emulation is started (step S51 in FIG. 9). In the present embodiment, unlike the first embodiment, it is not necessary to obtain information from the host computer 300. Subsequently, in order to create a command search table (step S52), a command use frequency information table having a format as shown in FIG. 11 is read from NVRAM (step S61 in FIG. 10), and the frequency information table is scanned. Check the number of times the command has been used,
The commands are rearranged in descending order of the number of times they have been used (step S62). And while lining up the commands, RO
The command search table on M13 is copied on RAM13 (step S63). In this case, the emulation program considers that the command search is performed by sequentially scanning the command search table from the top, and it is assumed that the commands located on the command search table are searched first. Therefore, if the search algorithm is different, the order in which the commands are arranged may be changed.

The method of creating the frequency information table is shown in FIG.
As the other information in the command search table shown in (1), frequency information is configured to be accumulated, and as a result of command analysis, the command is counted up. When the processing of one print data is completed, the command search table on the RAM is converted and stored in the format shown in FIG. 11 for storing the frequency information. When the power of the device is turned off, the frequency information table is stored in NVRAM.

These frequency information can be erased by setting the command and the panel. Further, different formats and aggregation methods may be used for the formats of various tables and the aggregation method of frequency information used in the description. Further, in the above embodiment, the command search table is rearranged, and R
Although it has been described that the command is copied onto the AM, only the frequently used commands are copied onto the RAM, and the process for the command not existing on the table is configured by searching the command search table on the ROM. , Efficient use of memory is achievable.

Regarding the command work area reservation, means for allocating an area at the time of initialization for each command,
It has two types of means to secure memory for the first time when a command is executed. The former means is used to secure the work area for frequently used commands, and the memory is secured for the infrequent commands only at the time of command execution. With such a configuration, it is possible to use the memory more efficiently.

Further, by utilizing the stored command frequency information table in the printer control language discrimination processing, more reliable data processing can be performed. A brief description will be given below.

Normally, in a printer having a program for analyzing a plurality of printer control languages, it is necessary to determine which control language the input data is described in. The characteristics of each control language are picked up and stored as information, and the control language is determined by comparing with the characteristics of the data. When the characteristics are checked, the frequency information of the command is also added to enable more reliable control language identification.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Although the command table has been described in the first and second embodiments, the font processing will be described in the present embodiment. Regarding the configuration of the laser beam printer and the configuration of the printer control system to which the present embodiment is applied, and the operation procedure on the host computer side, the configuration and operation described in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 in the first embodiment can be applied as they are. Is.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation procedure on the printer side in this embodiment. The control program for realizing the control shown in this flowchart is a ROM
13 is stored.

First, various information is obtained from the host computer 300 in the job control language (step S71).
Next, a program (stored in the ROM 13) capable of analyzing the printer control language data is activated according to the information obtained in step S71 (step S72). continue,
Create a font information table for font management. The font management table is described in the format shown in FIG. Font name and attribute information (graphic set (GS) that defines the pattern sequence,
Character width (pitch), character size (size), style (style) representing attributes such as upright solid, stroke weight (stroke) indicating width of stroke of character,
Primary type number (type) and sub-type number (s)
ub)) and the address in which the font pattern is stored are created as a management table, and attribute selection processing is performed by a flag indicating whether or not the font pattern is currently selected.

Conventionally, the font information table was created in the RAM 19 for all the fonts stored in the font ROM 13 and usable by the printer, but according to the present embodiment, according to the type of data obtained in step S71. , Font information table is not created for unused fonts. Then, the work area for font output is initialized (step S74).

Specifically, in emulation of a serial printer, only limited bitmap fonts are used. In this case, since it is not necessary to secure the work area for the scalable font, when the job control command determines that the data is described by the emulation of the serial printer, the emulation in the program ROM is performed. Read the font list used in and create the font information table only for the corresponding font. The font list used in the emulation has been described as being stored in the program ROM.
It can be downloaded and stored in the AM 19, or can be supplied by the external memory 14.

If the job control command determines that the printer control language has a plurality of command modes, the command mode is followed. If the graphic print mode is determined, the bitmap font cannot be used. Therefore, a font information table is created only for scalable fonts, and in the image mode, no font processing is required. Therefore, the font information table is not created and all work areas for font work are released.

Further, when it is determined that the character printing mode is set, the host computer 30 that created the data
If information on what the application or printer driver on the 0 is, is obtained by the job control command, a font information table only for fonts used by the application or printer driver may be created and the work area may be initialized. Like the font list for the printer control language, the font information for the command mode is stored in advance in the host computer 300.
Can be downloaded from the RAM 19 to the RAM 19 and stored therein, or can be supplied by the external memory 14.

Even when the data type as described above cannot be obtained, when the host computer 300 sends the data, it is possible to respond by sending a list of used fonts or a list of unused fonts by a job control command. Is. After that, by processing the print data using the created font table, it becomes possible to select from the limited fonts, and high-speed and reliable font selection processing becomes possible. Also, it becomes possible to optimize the size of the font information table,
Effective use of memory becomes possible. When the job control language indicating the end of data is obtained, the end processing corresponding to the initialization processing is performed and the input data waits.

In the first and second embodiments, the host computer 300 has been described to specify the printer control language used to describe the data and the command mode to be used. It is also possible to automatically determine. Further, although the description has been made so that the processing of the print data is separated according to the job control language, the separation of the print data can be automatically determined from the print data.

[0100]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
By optimizing the command search table / font information table, and securing and initializing the work memory for unused commands / fonts, it is possible to speed up and use the memory efficiently.

In short, in the conventional device, as the number of commands held by the emulation increases, the work area required by the command group increases, and the RAM area used for download, page memory, etc. is pressed. In the invention, commands that are known not to be used from the beginning are not registered in the command search table and the work area is not initialized, and commands that are frequently used are moved up in the command table. , We decided to lower the priority of work area allocation for commands that are used infrequently. As a result, the memory required for initialization of emulation can be reduced and the command search can be performed efficiently.

Further, by not processing the unused fonts, the speed of font selection can be increased and the reliability can be improved.
When all images are sent from the host computer without using the fonts in the printer, the fonts in the printer are not processed at all to speed up the processing and improve the work area efficiency. It becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a printer control system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of an LBP applied to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure on the host computer side in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a format of data sent from a host computer to a printer.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure on the printer side in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a command search table.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a usage state of a memory.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the number of steps required for command retrieval.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure on the printer side in the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure on the printer side in the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing frequency information stored in NVRAM.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure on the printer side in the third embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a format diagram of a font management table.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 CPU 3 ROM 4 System Bus 5 Keyboard Controller (KBC) 6 CRT Controller (CRTC) 7 Memory Controller (MC) 8 Printer Controller (PRTC) 9 Keyboard 10 CRT Display (CRT) 11 External Memory 12 Printer CPU 13 ROM 14 External Memory 15 System Bus 16 Printing Interface 17 Printing (Printer Engine) 18 Input 19 RAM 20 Memory Controller (MC) 21 Bidirectional Interface 22 Operation Panel 100 Printer 300 Host Computer

Claims (51)

[Claims] 1. An output device that receives data separated by a control language from an external device, initializes a command in the control language, and performs an output process based on the data to determine the type of data. Based on the data type obtained by the determining means, the command limiting means for limiting the commands to be used, and the command limiting table for limiting the control command to be processed by the command limiting means. An output device comprising: a construction unit; and an initialization unit that performs the initialization process only for a command included in the command search table constructed by the construction unit. 2. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the data type indicates a printer control language type. 3. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the type of the data indicates a type of a command mode in the printer control language. 4. The output device according to claim 1, wherein the data type indicates a type of a program that creates data in an external device. 5. Command information including information of a command to be used or a command not to be used from an external device in advance,
The output device according to claim 1, wherein the command search table can be registered. 6. An output device for receiving data from an external device and performing an output process based on the data by using a command search table for analyzing the command. Frequency information recording means for recording command usage frequency information. Storage means for storing the usage frequency information in a non-volatile memory, and reading the usage frequency information stored by the storage means,
An output device, comprising: a search table construction means for constructing the command search table based on the usage frequency information. 7. The output device according to claim 6, wherein the search table construction means constructs the command search table by arranging commands in order of frequency of use. 8. The output device according to claim 6, wherein the search table construction means constructs a command search table of only high-frequency commands. 9. The output device according to claim 6, wherein the non-volatile memory is an NVRAM. 10. A plurality of work area reserving means for reserving a work area for command processing, a priority setting means for setting a work area reservation priority according to the frequency of use in the command search table, and the priority. One of the plurality of work area securing means is set in accordance with the work area securing priority set by the setting means.
7. The output device according to claim 6, further comprising area securing executing means for executing one work area securing means. 11. The output device according to claim 6, wherein the frequency information stored in the non-volatile memory is used for determining the type of input data. 12. An output device that receives data separated by a control language from an external device, performs font initialization processing, and performs output processing based on the data, and a determination means that determines the data type. Font limiting means for limiting the fonts to be used; construction means for constructing a font table limited to the fonts to be processed using the font limiting means based on the data type obtained by the determining means; An output device, comprising: an initialization unit that performs the initialization process only for fonts included in the font table constructed in 1. 13. The output device according to claim 12, wherein the data type indicates a printer control language type. 14. The output device according to claim 12, wherein the type of the data indicates a type of a command mode in the printer control language. 15. The output device according to claim 12, wherein the data type indicates a type of a program for creating data by an external device. 16. The output device according to claim 12, wherein a font information table for a data type can be registered in advance by an external device. 17. The output device according to claim 12, wherein font information including information on a font to be used or a font not to be used can be registered in advance from an external device. 18. A host computer that generates data separated by a control language, receives the data sent from the host computer, initializes a command in the control language, and based on the data. In an information processing system including an output device for performing output processing according to the above, the output device includes a determination unit that determines a data type, a command limiting unit that limits a command to be used, and a data obtained by the determination unit. Constructing means for constructing a command search table limited to the control command to be processed using the command limiting means based on the type, and the initialization processing only for the commands included in the command search table constructed by the constructing means. An information processing system, comprising: 19. The information processing system according to claim 18, wherein the data type indicates a printer control language type. 20. The information processing system according to claim 18, wherein the type of data indicates a type of command mode in the printer control language. 21. The information processing system according to claim 18, wherein the data type indicates a type of a program that creates data in an external device. 22. The information processing system according to claim 18, wherein command information including information on a command to be used or a command not to be used, or a command search table can be registered in advance from an external device. 23. Information provided with a host computer for generating data, and an output device for receiving the data from the host computer and performing an output process based on the data using a command search table for analyzing a command. In the processing system, the output device records a frequency information recording unit that records command use frequency information, a storage unit that stores the frequency information in a non-volatile memory, and reads the use frequency information stored by the storage unit.
An information processing system, comprising: a search table construction means for constructing a command search table based on the usage frequency information. 24. The information processing system according to claim 23, wherein the search table construction means constructs the command search table by arranging commands in order of frequency of use. 25. The information processing system according to claim 23, wherein the search table construction means constructs a command search table of only high-frequency commands. 26. The information processing system according to claim 23, wherein the nonvolatile memory is NVRAM. 27. A plurality of work area reserving means for reserving a work area for command processing, a priority setting means for setting a work area reservation priority according to the frequency of use in the command search table, and the priority. One of the plurality of work area securing means is set in accordance with the work area securing priority set by the setting means.
24. The information processing system according to claim 23, further comprising area reservation execution means for executing one work area reservation means. 28. The information processing system according to claim 23, wherein the frequency information stored in the non-volatile memory is used for determining the type of input data. 29. A host computer that generates data separated by a control language from an external device, receives the data from the host computer, performs font initialization processing, and performs output processing based on the data. In an information processing system including an output device, the output device may include a determination unit that determines a data type, a font limiting unit that limits a font to be used, and the data type obtained by the determination unit. A construction means for constructing a font table limited to the fonts to be processed by using the font limitation means, and an initialization means for carrying out the initialization processing only for the fonts included in the font table constructed by the construction means are provided. An information processing system characterized in that 30. The information processing system according to claim 29, wherein the type of data indicates a type of printer control language. 31. The information processing system according to claim 29, wherein the data type indicates a command mode type in the printer control language. 32. The information processing system according to claim 29, wherein the type of data indicates a type of a program for creating data by an external device. 33. The information processing system according to claim 29, wherein a font information table for a data type can be registered in advance by an external device. 34. The information processing system according to claim 29, wherein font information including information on a font to be used or a font not to be used can be registered in advance from an external device. 35. A data output method of receiving data separated by a control language from an external device, performing initialization processing of a command in the control language, and performing output processing based on the data. Judgment processing for judging, command limiting processing for limiting the commands to be used, and table construction processing for constructing a command search table limited to the control command to be processed based on the data type obtained by the judgment processing After that, the initialization process is performed only for the commands included in the command search table constructed by the table construction process. 36. The data output method according to claim 35, wherein the data type indicates a printer control language type. 37. The data output method according to claim 35, wherein the type of data indicates a type of command mode in the printer control language. 38. The data output method according to claim 35, wherein the data type indicates a type of a program that creates data in an external device. 39. The data output method according to claim 35, wherein command information including information on a command to be used or a command not to be used, or a command search table is registered in advance from an external device. 40. A data output method for receiving data from an external device and performing an output process based on the data by using a command search table for analyzing the command. Frequency information recording for recording command usage frequency information. Processing, storage processing for storing the frequency information in a non-volatile memory, and reading the usage frequency information stored by the storage processing,
And a search table construction process for constructing the command search table based on the usage frequency information. 41. The data output method according to claim 40, wherein in the search table construction processing, the command search table is constructed by arranging commands in order of frequency of use. 42. The data output method according to claim 40, wherein the search table construction processing constructs a command search table of only high-frequency commands. 43. The data output method according to claim 40, wherein the nonvolatile memory is NVRAM. 44. A plurality of work area reserving processing for reserving a work area for command processing, a priority setting processing for setting a work area reserving priority according to the frequency of use in the command search table, and the priority. According to the priority order of the work area reservation set by the setting processing, 1
41. The data output method according to claim 40, further comprising: an area reservation execution process for executing one work area reservation process. 45. The data output method according to claim 40, wherein the frequency information stored in the non-volatile memory is used for determining the type of input data. 46. A data output method of receiving data separated by a control language from an external device, performing font initialization processing, and performing output processing based on the data, determining the type of the data. Processing, font limitation processing for limiting the fonts used, and table construction processing for constructing a font table limited to the font to be processed using the font limitation processing based on the data type obtained by the determination processing. And then, the initialization process is performed only for the fonts included in the font table constructed by the table construction process. 47. The data output method according to claim 46, wherein the data type indicates a printer control language type. 48. The data output method according to claim 46, wherein the type of data indicates a type of command mode in the printer control language. 49. The data output method according to claim 46, wherein the data type indicates a type of a program for creating data by an external device. 50. The data output method according to claim 46, wherein a font information table for a data type is registered in advance from an external device. 51. The data output method according to claim 46, wherein font information including information on a font to be used or a font not to be used is registered in advance from an external device.