JPH09216426A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform the efficient memory control related to a font by a reduced number of memories by utilizing the end-of-file code sent from a host device when a data file is formed and applying a discrimination element to the font left in a memory by down-load. SOLUTION: When the memory processing of a down-load font is completed (S4), the printing character data of the formation of a data file is received and printing is started according to a designated format on printing paper (S5). The completion of printing is judged by detecting the EOF(end-of-memory) code present in printing character data (S6). When the EOF code is detected, usual printing processing is completed (S7). Further, one or a plurality of discrimination elements such as a file forming person, a file name or a transmitted host computer number are applied to the header part of the down-load font on the side of a printer and main flow is completed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer which is connected to a host device, and in particular, receives an EOF code sent from the host device and performs additional processing such as font management. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus configured to perform.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional printer connected to one or a plurality of host devices, it is often the case that a plurality of users sequentially use the printer for work such as document creation. For this reason, the usage conditions of the printer are different for each user depending on the work to be used, and font management in the printer is very complicated. Therefore, in consideration of efficiency when each user reuses the font, the font used once is often stored in the memory in the printer, and the larger the number of users, the larger the memory capacity of the printer is required. In addition, downloaded fonts often remain when creating a data file, and a large memory capacity is required to store the remaining fonts.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional printer memory management method, the fonts used for document creation and the like are stored in the memory in the printer in consideration of the efficiency of reuse by each user. Or, the remaining capacity of the font downloaded when creating the data file caused a shortage of the memory capacity, which hindered effective use of the font memory. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve various problems in an image forming apparatus such as the printer, and an object thereof is to provide an image forming apparatus that enables effective use of the font memory of the printer. That is, when the data file of each user is created, the EOF (end.
(Of files) code, which makes it easy to delete unnecessary fonts by assigning identifiers to fonts that have been downloaded and remain in memory. Alternatively, fonts that are rarely used are automatically deleted. An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing efficient memory management for fonts with a small memory by performing work.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the first means is to create a data file in the image forming apparatus connected to one or more host devices. It is characterized in that it comprises means for receiving an EOF code transmitted from the host device at the time of carrying out and performing a desired additional work. Similarly, the second means is provided with means for receiving an EOF code transmitted from the host device when creating the data file and adding an identifier to the downloaded font based on the EOF code. To do. Similarly, the third means is characterized by including means for registering the frequency of use of the font based on the EOF code transmitted from the host device when creating the data file. In the fourth means, similarly, the frequency of use of the font is registered based on the EOF code transmitted from the host device when the data file is created, and the font is used according to the capacity limit of the cache memory for storing the font. It is characterized in that a means for deleting fonts is provided in ascending order of frequency. In the fifth means, similarly, the font usage frequency is registered based on the EOF code transmitted from the host device when the data file is created, and the usage frequency is registered in correspondence with the capacity limit of the font storage cache memory. In addition to deleting fonts in ascending order, the deleted fonts are registered and displayed.

[0005]

In the present invention, according to the first means, the EOF code transmitted from the host device is received, the normal data file is created by the procedure based on the normal work, and the EOF code is used. Thus, it becomes possible to perform various additional operations and effectively manage the fonts used. Further, in the image forming apparatus configured as the second means, it is possible to add an identifier to the font downloaded when the data file is created, as an additional operation of the first means. It will be easier to add. In the image forming apparatus configured as the third means, as means for performing the additional work of the first means,
Since the means for registering the frequency of use of the font used when creating the data file is provided, it becomes easy to perform various additional operations depending on the frequency of use. In the image forming apparatus configured as the fourth means, as an additional work of the first means, the frequency of use of the font used when creating the data file is registered, and the capacity of the font cache memory is limited. Corresponding to the above, since the work of deleting fonts is performed in the order of low frequency of use, it is possible to effectively utilize a small memory and manage fonts. In the image forming apparatus configured as the fifth means, as a means for performing the additional work of the first means, the frequency of use of the font used when creating the data file is registered, and the font cache memory is registered. Corresponding to the capacity limit of, delete the fonts in order of infrequent use,
Since the deleted fonts are registered and the means for displaying the fonts is provided, the fonts can be more effectively managed by the memory.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be described in detail based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a main part showing an example of a printer to which the present invention is applied.
Since detailed configurations and functions of the same type of printer are known, only an outline will be described. The host computer 1 is connected to the printer 2 via a host I / F (interface) 11 in the controller 10 of the printer 2, and the host I / F 11 is capable of bidirectional transmission. Also, the host computer 1
Printer setting commands, print data, fonts not prepared for the printer, etc. are sent to the printer 2, and status signals and printer 2 are sent from the printer 2.
The printer 2 is managed by receiving the unique information.

The printer 2 is roughly composed of a controller 10, a disk device 3, a panel device 4, a printer engine 5, and the like. The disk device 3 is a device provided for storing part of font data, programs, print data, and the like, and generally uses a floppy device, a hard disk device, or the like. The panel device 4 sets a mode condition of the printer 2 and displays an error state. The printer engine 5 is a block that actually performs print processing based on the data transmitted from the controller 10. The interfaces included in the controller 10 are a host I / F 11, a disk I / F 12, a panel I / F 13, an engine I / F 14, and the like. The host I / F 11 is
As described above, the data communication is performed with the host computer 1. Generally, mainly the Centro I / F or RS is used.
232 CI / F or the like is used. Also, the disk I / F
Reference numeral 12 denotes a panel I / F for data communication with the disk device 3.
Reference numeral 13 denotes data communication with the panel device 4, and engine I / F1.
4 communicates data with the printer engine 5,
Each is for doing.

Further, the CPU 20 has a micro CPU and takes in a program stored in the program ROM 17, a mode instruction from the panel device 4, data from the host computer 1 or the like to control the entire controller 10. . The font ROM 16 stores character patterns of commonly used basic Chinese characters such as first-level and second-level Chinese characters, and dedicated external character patterns of the host computer 1. The NVRAM 18 is the panel device 4
The RAM 15 is a non-volatile storage device that stores the contents of the mode instruction and the like input from the RAM 15. The RAM 15 is a work memory of the CPU 20, an input buffer of data input from the host computer 1, and temporary print information output to the printer engine 5. IC card 1 used for traditional memory
Reference numeral 9 is for supplying font data, programs and the like from the outside. Each of the blocks 11 to 19 constituting the controller 10 is connected to the CPU 20 via a bus line.

The controller 10 receives data (character code, font code, control code) from the host computer 1 via the host I / F 11 and stores it in the RAM.
The data is temporarily stored in the reception buffer unit in the unit 15. At the time of printing operation, the data of the character code held in the reception buffer is taken out, and the start address, width, height, and printing position of the font pattern for each character are stored in the page buffer existing in the RAM 15. Stores page layout information such as. Page buffer 1
When the page portion is completed, the data in the page buffer is subsequently developed by the font ROM 16 into a bit map of a pattern to be printed by the printer engine 5 in a frame buffer (not shown).

When the expansion of the bitmap is completed, signals such as a paper feed tray selection command, a paper ejection tray selection command, and a print command are sent to the printer engine 5 through the engine I / F 14, and then the expanded bitmap is transferred to the frame buffer. Output the data as video data. On the other hand, the printer engine 5 includes the controller 10
In accordance with signals such as a paper feed tray selection command, a paper discharge tray selection command, and a print command transmitted from the engine I / F 14 of the above, the printing paper is fed from the designated paper feed tray, and the characters according to the video data are delivered to the designated position. Print. In addition,
In the above description, it is necessary to expand the character code data transmitted from the host computer 1 into a bit map character pattern for actual printing. The information for this expansion is the font ROM 16 on the printer 2 side.
If it is known in advance that it does not exist, etc.,
Prior to the expansion, necessary font information is transmitted from the host computer 1 as a download font, but it takes time to download and expand it to a bitmap, and the printing efficiency of the printer 2 is reduced. The present invention can improve this point.

2 to 5 are flow charts for explaining some embodiments of the present invention. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to these drawings. In FIG. 2, the printer 2 receives the data regarding the print format from the host computer 1 (S1) and sets the format condition as instructed (S2). At this time, if it is necessary to use a font that is not stored in the font ROM 16 or the like on the printer 2 side for the data to be printed, the font data is sent prior to the print character data. Therefore, the presence or absence of download data (hereinafter referred to as a download font) is determined (S3), and if the download font is not necessary (S3, No), the print character data for directly creating the data file is received and the print processing is performed. Is performed (S5). On the other hand, in step S3, if there is a download font (S
(3, Yes), the printer 2 receives the downloaded font and stores it at a predetermined position in the memory (S4). When the storage process of the download font is completed, the print character data for creating the data file is received, and the font stored in the printer 2 or the download font is used to develop into bitmap data and the function of the printer engine 5 is used. Then, printing is started on the printing paper according to the specified format (S5). The end of printing is determined by detecting the EOF (End of File) code existing in the print character data. Therefore, while the EOF code is not detected (S6, No),
Repeat the print process for creating the above data file (S
5) When the EOF code is detected (S6, Yes), the normal printing process ends (S7). Further, in the present invention, one or more identifiers such as the file creator, the file name, or the transmitted host computer 1 number are added to the header portion of the downloaded font on the printer 2 side (S8), and this flow is executed. To finish.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the main operation of another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the printer 2 receives the data regarding the print format transmitted from the host computer 1 (S11), and sets the format condition as instructed (S12). If the data to be printed includes a font that is not stored in the font ROM 16 on the printer 2 side, the font data is transmitted before the print character data. Therefore, it is determined whether or not the fonts that need to be downloaded are mixed (S13), and if there is no downloaded font (S13, No), the print character data of the data file creation is directly received and the print processing is performed (S1).
5). On the other hand, in step S3, if there is a download font (S13, Yes), the printer 2 receives the download font and stores it in a predetermined position in the memory (S14).

When the process of storing the downloaded font is completed, the print character data for creating the data file is received, the font stored in the printer 2 or the downloaded font is used to develop the bitmap data, and the printer engine 5 Printing is started on the printing paper according to the specified format using the function (S15). Further, in this example, the number of times the font used for printing is used is counted (S16). EO in the print character data
The printing process is continued until the F code is detected (S17, N
o), the above steps S15 and S16 are repeated. When the EOF code is detected in the print character data (S17, Yes), the normal print processing is terminated and the confirmation is performed (S18). Further, in this example, as an additional work, the number of times the font has been used, which is counted when the data file is created, is registered for each character (S19), and this flow ends.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the main operation of still another embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that steps S1 to S4 shown in FIG. 2 are the same in the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, and therefore their explanations are omitted, and the operation after the process of storing the download font is shown.
That is, when the process of storing the download is completed, the print character data for creating the data file is received, the font stored in the printer 2 or the downloaded font is used to develop the bitmap data, and the function of the printer engine 5 is used. Printing is started on the printing paper according to the specified format (S21). Further, the number of times the font used in the cache memory for printing is counted (S22), and while the EOF code is not detected in the print character data (S23, No), the above step S2 is performed.
When 1 and step S22 are repeated and the EOF code is detected (S23, Yes), the printing process of the normal work is ended and the confirmation is performed (S24). Furthermore, in this example, as an additional operation, the number of times the font is used, which is counted when the data file is created, is registered for each character (S25), and the fonts are sorted in descending order of the count (S26). In preparation for the next process, if there is a capacity limit when storing fonts in the cache memory, it is judged whether or not the memory capacity is exceeded (S27). If the memory capacity is not exceeded (S27, No), this flow ends, but if the memory capacity is exceeded (S27, Yes), the less frequently used font is deleted (S28), and the less frequently used font is used until the specified memory capacity is reached. Are sequentially deleted (S28, Yes), and this flow ends.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the main operation of another embodiment of the present invention. Also in this example,
Similar to the example of FIG. 4, the operations described in steps S1 to S4 of FIG. 2 are the same and therefore omitted, and only the operation after the storage processing of the download font is shown. Further, the operation from step S31 to step S36 in FIG. 5 corresponds to the operation from step S21 to step S26 in FIG. 4, so the description of the operation of the same part will be omitted. That is, in step S37 in FIG.
If there is a capacity limit for storing fonts in the cache memory in preparation for the next process, it is determined whether or not the memory capacity is exceeded (S37). If the memory capacity is exceeded (S37, Yes), the font that is less frequently used is deleted (S40), and the deleted font name is stored (S41). The processing from step S40 to step S41 is repeated, the fonts that are used less frequently are deleted in order until the cache memory capacity limit is reached, and step S37 is ended when the font is within the capacity limit (S37,
No). Then, it is judged whether or not there is a font deleted to reduce the memory capacity within the capacity limit (S3
8) If there is a deleted font (S38, Ye
s), the deleted font name is displayed (S39), and when there is no deleted font (S38, No), this flow is ended as it is.

[0016]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, by receiving the EOF code transmitted from the host device, a normal work such as data file creation can be performed. Upon completion, it is possible to manage fonts used for image formation by means of additional work, so that newly used fonts and the like can be managed neatly every time a file is created.

According to the invention of claim 2, as an additional operation of the invention of claim 1, the operation of assigning an identifier to the downloaded font at the time of creating the data file is configured, so that the memory used When there is a shortage, it is possible to easily identify the font to be deleted by recognizing the above identifier. Therefore, more orderly font management is possible.

According to the invention of claim 3, as an additional operation of the invention of claim 1, a means for registering the frequency of use of the font used when creating the data file is provided, so the registered frequency of use By determining, it is possible to easily detect unnecessary fonts that may be deleted, and it is possible to reduce the font memory.

According to the invention of claim 4, as an additional work of the invention of claim 1, the frequency of use of the font used when creating the data file is registered, and the capacity of the font cache memory is limited. Since it is configured to delete the fonts that are used less frequently, the necessary fonts are stored in the limited capacity of the cache memory, and the memory capacity is limited to the required minimum for the next work. It enables efficient font management.

According to the invention of claim 5, the frequency of use of the font used when creating the data file is registered by means for performing the additional work of the invention of claim 1 above.
In order to correspond to the capacity limit of the font cache memory, delete the fonts that are used less frequently, and
Since it is configured to register and display the deleted fonts, in the subsequent processing, if you specify only the deleted fonts and download it, you can handle the next processing without wasting time. This enables efficient font management.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principal block diagram showing an example of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing main operations in an embodiment of the image forming apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing main operations in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing main operations in another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing main operations in another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host computer, 2 ... Printer, 3 ... Disk device, 4 ... Panel device, 5 ... Printer engine, 10 ... Controller, 11 ... Host I / F, 1
2 ... Disk I / F, 13 ... Panel I / F, 14 ... Engine I / F, 15 ... RAM, 16 ... Font RO
M, 17 ... Program ROM, 18 ... NVRAM,
19 ... IC card, 20 ... PU.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An image forming apparatus connected to one or more host devices, comprising means for receiving an EOF code transmitted from the host device when creating a data file, and performing desired additional work. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above. 2. An image forming apparatus connected to one or a plurality of host devices receives an EOF code transmitted from the host device when creating a data file, and based on this EOF code, downloads the font. An image forming apparatus comprising means for executing a process of assigning an identifier. 3. An image forming apparatus connected to one or a plurality of host apparatuses, comprising means for receiving an EOF code transmitted from the host apparatus when creating a data file and registering a frequency of use for each font. An image forming apparatus characterized by the above. 4. An image forming apparatus connected to one or a plurality of host apparatuses receives an EOF code transmitted from the host apparatus when creating a data file, registers a font usage frequency, and stores the font. An image forming apparatus comprising means for deleting fonts in ascending order of usage frequency in response to the cache memory capacity limitation. 5. An image forming apparatus connected to one or a plurality of host apparatuses receives an EOF code transmitted from the host apparatus when creating a data file, registers the frequency of use of fonts, and stores the fonts. An image forming apparatus comprising means for deleting fonts in order of increasing frequency, registering the deleted fonts, and displaying the deleted fonts in correspondence with the cache memory capacity limit.