JPS58221439A - Output device of information - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To check a format even if the preparation of a picture program is not completed, by generating control information, characters or patterns to be used in an information outputting device on the basis of prescribed format information. CONSTITUTION:An information outputting device 25 is provided with a storage device 22 to store plural format information and a data information converter 24 to generate data information for display or printing to be used in said device 25. The device 24 generates prescribed control information, prescribed characters or code information generating patterns which are used for display or printing in the device 25 on the basis of the prescribed format information. Consequently, display or printing based upon the prescribed format information can be attained without data information from a computer and a display format can be checked on a screen before a program to display pictures having said display format is prepared.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an information output device that is equipped with a display device, a printing device, etc., and displays or prints predetermined information according to information from a processing device.

Specific examples of such information output devices include various display devices, various output printers, control consoles, and various terminal devices (devices). Here, the information output device is a general term for these in terms of output devices. Note that this information output device may naturally have an input function.

Since the information output device according to the present invention has such a device that converts information into a format for display or printing used within the device, there is no need to send data from the processing device in the converted format. Instead, it is sufficient to simply send out the information in the format used within the processing device, and the number of programs within the processing device can be reduced.

Furthermore, this device has a function that allows it to confirm the format to be displayed even when predetermined data is not transmitted from the processing device.

For this reason, this device includes a storage device that stores display or print formants, and a data information generation device for display or print.

Hereinafter, a video data terminal device (hereinafter simply referred to as a display terminal) will be described as a specific example of the information output device.

By the way, in a computer processing system, information is generally exchanged between a central computer and a terminal user.

In this case, display terminals are often used.

The general configuration of this type of conventional display terminal is as follows:
This is shown in the figure. In the figure, 1 is a central computer, and 2 is a display terminal.

The display terminal 2 receives information from the computer 1 through the line 3 and displays patterns of characters, symbols, etc. on the CRT display 4 in a predetermined format. On the other hand, the user can display necessary information on the CRT display 4 by using the keyboard 5.

If necessary, the manually entered information is transmitted from the display terminal 2 to the computer 1 via the line 3.

Here, the display terminal 2 inputs the data information received from the line 3 to the device control circuit 6 and stores it as display data in a predetermined position of the refresh memory 7 according to predetermined control. The data stored in this way is sent to the character/pattern generation circuit 8, the character or pattern corresponding to the data is read out, and this is sent to the video control circuit 9. The generated characters/patterns are converted into video signals and displayed on the CILT display 4.

Note that the refresh memory 7 is a buffer memory corresponding to the screen row, and stores display control information indicating character codes, blinking, display colors, etc. in correspondence with the screen position, and under the control of the device control circuit 6, The character pattern generation circuit 8 is sequentially addressed to generate a predetermined character/pattern.

Here, the outputs of the function keys etc. of the keyboard 5 are inputted to the device control circuit 6, and the cursor signals etc. of the keyboard 50 are inputted to the device control circuit 6.
The refresh memory 7 is manually operated. The device control circuit 6 also has the function of controlling the refresh memory 7, character/pattern generation circuit 8, and other circuits, thereby controlling the entire device. Furthermore, the refresh memory 7 includes an address counter, a cursor counter, and the like.

By the way, data sent from the computer 1 to the display terminal 2 is represented by a sign containing a character code and display control information. This is done by converting the binary data used in the computer 1 into code system data that can be used on the display terminal and terminal 2 inside the computer. For example, the data handled within the computer 1 includes integer binary numbers, real number binary numbers, and character binary numbers.
Each of these is represented by a corresponding binary number and processed. However, within the display terminal 2, these are
Each must be converted into a code as display data.

On the other hand, information manually entered by the user from the keyboard 5 is stored in the refresh memory 7 in an encoded form according to the code system used within the display terminal 2.

When there is a read request from the computer 1 for this input signal, it is read out from the refresh memory 7 as code information of that code system and sent to the computer 1 side. Therefore, the computer 1 uses its internal program to reversely convert this into a binary information code system that can be processed within the computer 1.

In order to absorb such differences in code systems between the computer 1 and the display terminal 2, a processing program for processing this is required inside the computer, which increases the capacity of the entire processing program. Therefore, the execution time becomes longer, which causes a problem that the load inside the computer increases.In order to solve this problem, the inventor has developed the following technology based on the prior art of this invention. We have proposed this as a technology and have filed an application.

The outline will be explained with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the display terminal, and is shown in a form corresponding to FIG. 1, and the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 mean the same components.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a display terminal, which includes a display information analysis and generation circuit 21 and a storage device 22 in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. Here, the display information analysis generation circuit 21 is a specific example of a data conversion device 23 that converts data into data information for display, and includes an interface circuit 21a and a coordinate information generation circuit 211).

It is composed of a display color code generation circuit 21C and a character code generation circuit 21d.

The storage device 2211'i receives conversion information from the device control circuit 6 and stores it. A specific example of the conversion information is format information shown in FIG. 6, which will be described later. is stored as display format information together with its identification number.

Further, the storage device 22 is accessed by the display format information identification number (sent from the computer 1) from the device control circuit 6, outputs predetermined format information (conversion information), and uses this to analyze the display information. The signal is sent to the generation circuit 21.

The display information analysis generation circuit 21 generates control information ( However, it generates (including coordinate information), character code, or pattern code.

These pieces of information generated in the display information analysis and generation circuit 21 are then sent to the device control circuit 6, where they are stored at predetermined coordinate positions in the refresh memory 7 according to the obtained coordinate information. The control information (excluding coordinate information) stored in the refresh memory 1 is sent to the video control circuit 9, while the character code or pattern code is sent to the character/pattern generation circuit 8. The character/pattern generation circuit 8 is addressed by this,
A predetermined pattern is generated and sent to the video control circuit 9. Therefore, predetermined characters or patterns are displayed on the display 4 according to a predetermined format.

Thereafter, data information transmitted from the computer 1 will be displayed in the same formant unless the formant is changed.

Here K, registration of display format information (storage to storage device 23)
From then on, from computer 1 to the display terminal,...! 0
, the information of the display format information reference command is transmitted together with the display format information identification number, and from this point on, the display screen will be displayed according to the display format according to the prior art digital display having the above configuration. In the terminal 20, as a result of the display information analysis 1 generation circuit 21 receiving the format information stored in the storage device 23, the format that will be displayed on the screen of the CRT display 4 is determined as follows.
This can only be determined after the computer 1 sends out the display format information reference command information and data information.

This requires running a program on the computer 1 that displays the screen. Therefore, storage device 2
In order to check whether the format stored in 2 is correct, it is necessary to wait until the creation of a program to display a screen with that format is completed.

For systems that require a large amount of format information, this results in delays in the manufacturing process, reduced productivity, and reduced reliability.

This invention was made in view of this unresolved problem, and is intended to solve this problem.It is possible to check the format even if the creation of the screen program is not completed. The purpose is to provide an information output device that can.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention provides command information (for example, 60) from a processing device (computer 1) as shown in the accompanying drawings or embodiments as an example of its configuration. , an information output device (for example, 25) that receives data information (for example, 70), displays or prints predetermined information, and outputs the format information 3.
3, and a data information generating device (for example, 24) that generates data information for display or printing used in this information output device (for example, 25). It depends.

Here, the format information 33 indicates the format of display or printing, and converts the data information 70 from the processing device into data used within this information output device. The data information generating device 24 also generates predetermined control information and predetermined characters or patterns for use in the information output device (for example, 25) for display or printing based on predetermined format information. It generates information.

In the information output device (for example, 25) of the present invention configured as described above, the format information 33 read from the storage device 22 provides predetermined control information and dog name information for generating predetermined characters or patterns. can be generated, so it is possible to display or print according to that format. Therefore, you can check the format on screen 2 even if the creation of the screen program is not completed.

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

FIG. 3 is an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to the display terminal of FIG. 2, and shows a block diagram of the data information generating device of the display terminal 25 and related parts.

24 is a display information generation circuit, which is a specific example of a data information generation circuit which is a component of the present invention.

The display information generation circuit 24 includes a display format test circuit 26 in addition to the display information generation circuit 21 described above. Here, the display format test circuit 26 is a component of the present invention.

Here, the display information generation circuit 24 and the display terminal 2
The circuit 5 generates the display information, and receives it from the circuit 6 and sends it out. It also receives format information from the storage device 22. The connections beyond the device control circuit 6 are exactly the same as those shown in FIG. Here, the same reference numerals as shown in FIG. 2 mean the same things as in the same figure. Note that the character code generation circuit 21d is
The function is somewhat different from that shown in FIG. 2, as will be described later.

Next, the configuration of each device will be specifically explained.

First, the display format information group 30 is transmitted from the computer 1 to the display terminal 25 via the line 3 in the format shown in FIG. In the display terminal 20, the device control circuit 6 first receives this data information and stores it in the storage device 22 as a group of information in a display format.

The configuration of the display format information group 30 shown in FIG. 4 is such that the display format information identification number 319, number of display format bytes, 32 degrees, and format information 33 correspond to one screen, forming one unit, and is made up of multiple double-sided portions. .

Here, display format information identification number 319 display format byte number 32. One unit of data information consisting of the format information 33 is one display format information, and this defines the display format of data exchanged between the computer 1 and the Daynebray terminal 25.

At the beginning of the display format information group 30, a display format information registration command code '34 and information indicating the number 35 of display format information registration are attached. The information 34.35 at the beginning of this is,
This is decoded by the device control circuit 6, and upon receiving this, the device control circuit 6 reads the following display format information identification number 31° display format byte number 32. The format information 33 is sequentially stored in the storage device 22.

Here, the contents of the format information 33 are as shown in FIG.
At the top, the information is displayed in a format as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 6, the display screen 50 has an X coordinate in the horizontal direction and a Y coordinate in the vertical direction, and the X coordinate is set from 0 to 9 and the Y coordinate is set from 0 to 6.

Here, the fourth field 51. Fifth field 52, sixth field 53. The seventh file 54 is used as each current display field. Here, the leading X and Y coordinates of the fourth field 51 are X-1°Y,=1. Similarly,
In the fifth field 52, )(=5, y=2, in the sixth field 53, X-1, Y=4, in the seventh field 5
4, x=5. y=5.

are shown in the respective columns. Furthermore, display color identification information 43 is arranged in the subsequent column as information indicating the display color in each field. Here, W means white, i
t means red, B means blue, and G means green.

Column 44 is information indicating the number of field digits.
5 is information indicating the number of digits below the decimal point. Also, column 4
6 is a conversion identification code. The conversion identification code 46 is
"■"' means an integer, "R" means a real number, and "c" means special data, and the letter "S" means special data. Here, the conversion code "S" means to display the information 47 set after that, and in FIG. 6, it is:
The characters are 'DATA'.

Here, each data information shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is shown in a binary code of the data system sent from the computer 1, and each column CI is a 1-byte binary code ( means data expressed in binary numbers).

The computer 1 transmits command information 60 in the format shown in FIG. 7 as command information for converting the data information to be sent into data information used within the display terminal 25, and then transmits the command information 60 in the format shown in FIG. The data information 70 shown is sent out.

Here, the command information 60 is composed of 2-byte information: the first byte is a code 61 indicating display format information reference, and the next 1 byte is information indicating a display format information identification number 62.

On the other hand, the data information 70 shown in FIG. 8 is, for example, integer binary data 71. The real number type binary data 72 and the character type binary data 73 are sent out sequentially.

When the device control circuit 6 receives these command information 60 and data information 70 via the line 3, the device control circuit 6 decodes the command information 60 and stores it according to the display format information identification number 62. access device 22; Then, formant information 33 corresponding to the display format identification number 31 of the stored information that matches the display format information identification number 62 is added according to the number of display format information bytes 32. , read it out, and send it to the display information analysis and generation circuit 21 . Also, at this time, the device control circuit 6 sends a drive request signal to the display information analysis and generation circuit 21.

The display information analysis generation circuit 21 converts the first 2 bytes of X, Y coordinate information 41.42 of the format information sent from the storage device 22 into the coordinate information generation circuit 2.
Manpower Tb. Here 1. It is then converted into predetermined coordinate information (address information) of the refresh memory 7.

On the other hand, the display dismissal information 43 in the third byte of format information is input manually to the display color code generation circuit 21C, where it is converted into a code indicating the display color information on the display 4. The number of field digits in the fourth byte to the sixth byte is 44. The number of digits after the decimal point is 45. The conversion identification code 46 is the character code generation circuit 2.
1d.

On the other hand, the drive request signal sent from the device control circuit 6 to the display information analysis generation circuit 21 is transmitted to the interface circuit 2.
1a is manually operated.

In response to this, the interface circuit 21a outputs coordinate information generation circuit 21b1 display color code generation circuit 2, respectively.
1d, a signal generation request signal is sent to each circuit, each piece of information generated from these circuits is received and received, and the information is sent to the device control circuit 6.

When the character code generation circuit 21d receives a generation request signal from the interface circuit 21a, it refers to the conversion identification code, and if it is not S I+, it transmits the data information 70 from the computer 1 to the interface circuit 21a. Issue a request to send. Then, in response to this, a predetermined character code or pattern code corresponding to this data information is generated from the previous information 44, 45, 46 from the storage device 22 and this data information 70.

For example, among the data information 70, integer binary data 7
1 is created based on the conversion identification code T I+ as a character code (numerical code) indicating each corresponding number corresponding to the number of digits. In addition, in the real number form binary data 72, character codes indicating each number, including each corresponding number and the number below the decimal point, are created based on the conversion identification code R'', and
In the case of a base number, each corresponding character code is created based on the conversion identification code C'°.

Here, when the conversion identification code is S'', special data information, such as l'' DAT, is stored from the storage device 22.
The information corresponding to AJ is read out, and based on this, each character code indicating l'-DA and TAJ is created.

Each piece of information generated in this way is sent to the device control circuit 6 under the control of the interface circuit 21a.

In the device control circuit 6, based on the information from the coordinate information generation circuit 21b, the corresponding coordinate position (acid reflex position) of the refresh memory T is selected, and this is set as the leading position, and the information from the display color code generation circuit 21C is selected. The code indicating the display color and the character code from the character code generation circuit 21d are sequentially stored in the refresh memory T.

As a result, information as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the screen 50 of the CRT display 4. In addition, in FIG. 9, "520" shown in the fourth field 51
" corresponds to 11 binary data in the data information, "405" shown in the fifth field 52 corresponds to 72 binary data in the data information, and l shown in the sixth field 53.
'-SWCJ corresponds to 13 binary data in the data information. Here, the seventh field 54
“DATA J was sent from the storage device 22.

Next, when the formant information test request signal 80 shown in FIG. 1O is sent from the computer 1 to the display terminal 25, the device control circuit 6 of the display terminal 25 receives it.

In the format information test request signal 80, as shown in FIG. 10, the first byte is a display format information reference command code 81. The second byte is the display format information identification number 82. Third
The byte consists of a display format information test request code 83. Here, the display format information test request code 83 is "
When it is "1", it indicates a test request, and when it is "0," it indicates a binary conversion display.

Note that when it is "0", it is the same as the command information 60 shown in FIG.

When the device control circuit 6 accepts this signal and the third byte signal is "■", it generates an output signal to the display information generation circuit 24, which is sent to the display format test via the interface circuit 21a. Activate the circuit 26. At the same time, the device control circuit 6 decodes the display format information reference command code 81, accesses the storage device 22 using the display format information identification number 82, and reads out predetermined format information.

The format information read in this way is
Coordinate information generation circuit 21b9 Display color code generation circuit 21C
and is supplied to the character code generation circuit 21d.

On the other hand, the interface circuit 21a has already received the drive request signal sent from the device control circuit 6 to the display information analysis and generation circuit 21. As a result, converted coordinate information is obtained from the coordinate information generation circuit 21b, and display color information is obtained from the display color code generation circuit 21C.

By the way, when the format information test request signal 80 is received, the display format test circuit 26 is activated, and as a result, a control signal is manually input to the character code generation circuit 21d. Upon receiving this control signal, the character code generation circuit 21d does not issue a request to the interface circuit 21a to send the data information 70 from the computer 1; Generates a character code corresponding to the conversion identification code. However, when the conversion identification code is S'', the storage device 22
It will generate a character code corresponding to the data supplied from.

As a result of the above, the format information test request signal 80
When received, format information such as the screen 50 shown in FIG. 11 will be displayed on the CTLT display 4.

In this way, even if the data information 70 is not sent from the computer 1, the format can be known by displaying the conversion identification code in the format information as display data.

The above explanation has focused on numerical display and character display, but
Even when displaying a graph as shown in FIG. 14 by sending formant information as shown in FIG. 12 and data information as shown in FIG. 13 from the computer 1,
The format can be displayed by the display information test circuit 26 mentioned above.

Here, FIG. 12 to FIG. 14 will be briefly explained. FIG. 12 shows format information 90 for displaying a graph, and corresponds to the format information 33 shown in FIG. .

The first byte is 91. The second byte 92 indicates the X coordinate and Y coordinate, respectively, and means the reference position of the graph. The third byte 93 is display color identification information, and here, G indicates green. The fourth byte, 94, is information indicating the number of graph points, and indicates how many graphs are to be displayed, which is seven in this case.

The 5th byte, 95rti, indicates the maximum size at which the graph can be drawn, and is the Yj5-direction size. Here, the maximum size is 5 coordinates. The numeral 96 in the sixth column indicates the format of the graph, and the "B" therein means a bar graph. The seventh byte, 97, is a conversion identification code, in which "I" means integer conversion. 98 in the 8th byte indicates the minimum value of the scale, and 99 in the 9th byte indicates the maximum value of the scale, which means that values from 0 to 100 are taken here. .

Here, in the case of graph display, a display to that effect is made in the command information 61 shown in FIG. 7. When this is transmitted from the computer 1, the device control circuit 6 decodes it and executes predetermined processing on the data information sent from the computer 1.

Here, data information 10 sent from the computer 1
0 is as shown in FIG.

In other words, information indicating the heights of the seven bar graphs to be displayed is sequentially shown in the first to seventh bytes and sent. Therefore, based on this data information, a pattern code corresponding to the graph is created in the character code generator 21d, a reference coordinate position is obtained from the coordinate information generating circuit 21b, and a predetermined position is generated in the device control circuit 6. After the arithmetic processing is performed, a predetermined pattern code is written to a predetermined address position in the refresh memory γ.

As a result, the displayed graph is as shown in FIG. 14. Even in the case of such a graph display, the display format test circuit 26 generates a substitute value for the data transmitted from the computer, so that the data transmitted from the computer is not necessary.

As explained above, the storage device 22 may be replaced by the main memory built into the computer 1. In this case, display format information is stored in the main memory, and predetermined command information is stored in the main memory. Accordingly, the display terminal 20 performs predetermined processing by referring to the display format information on the main memory.

Although the present invention has mainly been described with reference to a display terminal as a display device, it is of course applicable to printing devices such as line printers, XY plotters, dot printers, and typewriters. In addition, although the description focuses on terminal devices, the present invention is not limited to terminal devices; It can be applied in any case.

Further, in the embodiment described above, the display format test circuit 26 controls the character code generation circuit 21d to generate display information, but the display test circuit 26 may be provided with a predetermined character code generation circuit. For example, there is no character code generation circuit 21.
There is no need to control d.

The character code etc. generated here may also be arbitrary. Note that the display test circuit 26 generates shrine information that generates predetermined control information and predetermined characters or patterns from predetermined format information, or
Any device that controls the display information analysis and generation circuit 21 to generate this may be used. Further, instead of the format information test request signal 80, a format display signal may be generated from the keyboard 5.

Although the display information, command information, test request signal, etc. are described as being sent from the computer 1 in the embodiment, it will be understood that they may be sent from a general processing device.

As described in detail above, the present invention includes a storage device that stores a plurality of formant information, and a data information converter that generates data information for display or printing used in an information output device. and code information (code) that generates predetermined control information and predetermined characters or patterns to be used in this information output device for display or printing based on predetermined format information. )
Since the information is generated in the data information conversion device, display or printing according to predetermined format information can be performed without data information from the computer.

As a result, before creating a program for displaying a screen having a certain display format on the processing device side, the format can be confirmed on the screen. Therefore, the work of creating display information related to the format up to checking it on the screen can be performed consistently, and unlike the prior art, it is possible to perform the work of creating display information related to the display format (format information) in an integrated manner. There is no need to perform a matching test with a display program in a state where it is uncertain whether the information is correct or not, eliminating process delays and improving productivity and reliability.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of a conventional display terminal device, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a display terminal device proposed as a prior art of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of a conventional display terminal device. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the display terminal device of the embodiment applied to the prior art of
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of the display format information sent from the computer side to the display terminal side, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of the structure of the format information of the display format information in FIG. 4. , FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of the display format of the CR/T display displayed according to the format information shown in FIG. 5, and FIG.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of command information sent from the computer in FIG. 3, FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a specific example of data information sent from the computer in FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of the formant information test request information from the computer in FIG. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing format information when displaying a bar graph in the apparatus in FIG. 3, FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing data information from the computer for the bar graph in FIG. 10, 14th
The figure is a display diagram of a bar graph displayed based on the data information in FIG. 13. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Computer, 2... Display terminal device, 3... Line, 4... CRT display, 5...
・Keyboard, 6... Device control circuit, 7... Refresh memory, 8... Character/pattern generation circuit, 9.
...Video control circuit, 21..Display information analysis generation circuit,
22... Storage device, 23... Data conversion circuit, 24
... Display information generation circuit, 25 ... Display terminal device ° 26 ... Display format test circuit Patent applicant Fuji Facom Control Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Tetsu Mori Mushi patent attorney Naito
Kasho, Patent Attorney Shimizu ゛ Regular Patent Attorney, Kajiyama Atsushi Kore 3FA Figure 4 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) Receiving command information and data information from the processing device,
In an information output device that displays or prints predetermined information and outputs it, a storage device that stores a plurality of format information, and a data information generator that generates data information for display or printing used in this information output device. and the format information indicates a format for display or printing, and converts data information from the processing device into data information to be used within the information output device, and the data information generation device generates predetermined control information for display or printing and code information for generating predetermined characters or patterns to be used within the information output device based on predetermined format information; In response to a predetermined command signal from a processing device, predetermined formant information is read out, and this is supplied to the data information generating device to display or print according to the predetermined formant information. An information output device characterized by: (2) Format information has a conversion code for converting data information from a processing device into data information for display or printing used in this information output device, and has a predetermined character or pattern. The information output device according to claim 1, wherein the code information to be generated corresponds to this conversion code. (3) The data information generation device includes a data conversion circuit and a format information display circuit, and the data conversion circuit generates predetermined control information and predetermined characters based on the data information from the processing device and predetermined format information. The format information display circuit generates predetermined control information and predetermined characters or code information from predetermined format information via the data conversion circuit or directly. An information output device according to any one of claims (1) and (2), characterized in that the information output device generates code information for generating a pattern.