JPS61248127A - Information output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to prepare many small forms for a document efficiently and quickly by selectively reading an optional partial area from a memory device as an objective block for printing, and arranging information of plural blocks thus read out properly in the same page and outputting by printing in the same page. CONSTITUTION:The system is constituted of a device that designates and reads any partial area selectively as an objective block for printing from a memory device 17 that stores information such as inputted or edited documents, graphics, etc., and a device that arranges read out information of plural blocks properly in the same page and outputs by printing. Objective information block for printing that can be contained in partial area of a printing form are arrange by number of blocks printable in the printing form properly by a simply operated inputting device for outputting by printing. Thus, when preparing many small forms of printed document that can be contained in a partial area of a printing form, the work can be executed efficiently and quickly without troubling a perform.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a printing method suitable for use in information processing equipment having a document creation function, such as a word processor.

[Prior art and its problems] Conventionally, in information processing devices such as word processors that have a document creation function, small pieces of document paper that fit in a certain area of printing paper (for example, cassette labels, circulation route paper, small flyers) etc.), when creating a large number of small pieces of paper, print out several small pieces of documents, arrange the small pieces of documents on one sheet of paper, and copy them with a copying machine to obtain a predetermined number of small pieces of paper, or A method has been used in which a plurality of small paper documents are created and printed out to obtain a predetermined number of small paper sheets.

However, in any of the above-mentioned cases, such means for creating small document sheets requires a lot of time and labor, and there is a problem that the workability is poor.

[Objective of the Invention] The present invention provides a printing method that can properly arrange and print out information blocks to be printed that fit in a certain area of a printing paper with the number of blocks that can be printed on the printing paper using a simple operation input means. This is what we offer.

[Summary of the Invention] The present invention provides a means for selectively designating and reading out an arbitrary part of an area as a block to be printed from a storage means for storing information such as inputted or edited documents, figures, etc.; The structure has a means for appropriately arranging and printing out multiple blocks of information on the same page, and a means for appropriately arranging and printing out a plurality of blocks of information on the same page.By means of a simple operation input means, blocks of information to be printed that fit in a part of the printing paper can be printed. The number of blocks that can be printed on the same printing paper can be properly arranged and printed out. This allows small pieces such as cassette labels, circulation route paper, small flyers, etc. that fit in a certain area of the printing paper to be printed out. When producing a large number of sheets of printed document paper, the work can be done efficiently and quickly without bothering manpower, and can be realized at low cost without requiring a large-capacity pattern memory.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
Here we will take a Japanese word processor as an example. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 is a keyboard, and here, a print mode (hereinafter referred to as copy printing) in which information blocks to be printed that fit in a certain area of printing paper are appropriately arranged and printed in the number of blocks that can be printed on the same printing paper is used. A specific function key fk is provided for instructing the copy printing key (referred to as a copy print key). Further, ek is an execution key operated when executing the above-mentioned copy printing, and Cr, cl, cd, and cu are cursor keys.

12 is a display section that displays an input document; 13 is the display section 12;
14 is a printer that prints the document; 15 is a printer control unit that controls the printer 14;

Reference numeral 16 denotes a CPU that controls the entire device and performs various document processing including copy printing processing, which will be described later.It receives key human power information from the board 11 and processes documents such as editing, proofreading, input/output, etc. In the copy printing mode associated with the operation input of the copy printing key fk, copy printing processing as shown in FIG. 2 is executed according to a copy printing processing program in the ROM, which will be described later.

Reference numerals 17 to 19 are storage units connected to the memory bus of the CPU 16, each of which is access-controlled by the CPU 16. Reference numeral 17 is a document memory for storing document information, and 18 is a character generator and various controls including copy printing. RO used as programs, dictionaries, etc.
It is M. Further, 19 is a working RAM of the CPU 16, and for copy printing processing, a maximum line number register MLR is used to set the maximum number of lines printed on one page, and a maximum number of character digits printed on one line is set. Maximum number of characters register MCR1 Print start line register where the print start line of the copy print area (hereinafter referred to as copy print block) is set PLR1 Print start character position register PCR where the print start character position is set
, cursor register CYR, C that specifies the cursor position
XR, an execution key flag F that displays the number of operations of the execution key ek, a line number register LR1 that indicates the number of lines in a copy print area (one block), a character number register CR that indicates the number of characters, and work registers W1 to W4 are prepared.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the copy printing process flow in one embodiment.

The operation of one embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

During copy printing, after specifying the copy printing mode by operating the copy printing key fk on the keyboard 11, specify the copy printing area using the cursor keys cr, cl, cd, CD and execution key ek, and then pressing the execution key. By operating ek, copy printing processing as shown in FIG. 2 is started, and a specific example thereof will be explained below.

First, operate the copy print key fk provided on the keyboard 11 to specify the copy print mode, and follow the display guide of the mode to select one page of information (or copy print target) containing the document or figure to be copied. (document 1 graphics, etc.) inputted for the purpose are displayed on the display screen of the display unit 12. after that,
Press the cursor key cr to select the copy print area in the displayed document.
Specify by using cl, cd, cu and execution key ek. To specify the area at this time, press the cursor key cr, press the start point (upper left corner) and end point (lower right corner) of the specified region, respectively.
This is done by specifying cl, cd, and cu.

When the cursor keys crcl, cd, cu are operated, the cursor register CYR in the RAM 19 is activated.

The CXR is updated and the cursor moves according to its contents.

To specify the above copy printing area, first press the cursor key cr,
After setting the cursor to the starting point of the copy printing area by operating cl, cd, and cu, the execution key ek is operated.

As a result, in the process shown in FIG.
1-In step A1, the process of step 86 is executed, the contents of the cursor register CYR and the contents of the maximum line number register MLR are compared, and the copy print designation area is set to the maximum number of lines on one page. After it is determined whether or not the maximum number of characters has been exceeded, in step A2, the contents of the cursor register CXR and the contents of the maximum number of characters register MCR are compared, and if the copy printing designated area exceeds the maximum number of characters in one line, It is determined whether the At this time, the maximum number of lines to be printed on one page, and the maximum number of characters to be printed in one line are set in advance in the maximum number of lines register MLR1 and the maximum number of characters register MCR during the formatting operation, respectively. Here, the starting point of the copy print designation area is set in advance.
If the maximum number of lines to be printed on the page and the maximum number of characters to be printed in one line have not been exceeded, it is determined in step A3 whether the content of the execution key flag F is rOJ.

If the content of the execution key flag F is "0" here, in step A4, the content of the cursor register CYR representing the start line of the specified copy printing area, (Y direction cursor address) is set to the print start line register PLR. In step A5, the contents of the cursor register CXR (X-direction cursor address) representing the start character position (column position) of the specified copy printing area are set in the print start character position register PCR. Step 86
In , the content of execution key flag F changes from "0" to "1"
be rewritten as .

Next, press the cursor keys Cr, cl, cd, cu again
After setting the cursor to the end point of the copy printing area by operating , execute key ek is operated again. This causes the second
The process starts from step A1 in the figure, and similarly to the above, in step A1, the cursor register CYR is
The contents of and the contents of the maximum line number register MLR are compared,
In step A2, the contents of the cursor register CXR and the contents of the maximum number of characters register MCR are compared, and the maximum number of lines to be printed on one page and the maximum number of characters to be printed in one line are determined in which the end point of the copy print designation area is preset. After it is determined that the value does not exceed 0, it is determined again in step A3 whether or not the content of the execution key flag F is rOJ. Here, since the content of the execution key flag F is already "0", the process starts from step AI.

In this case, first, in step A7, it is determined whether the contents of the cursor register CYR are larger than the contents of the print start line register PLR, and then, in step 88, the cursor After it is determined whether the contents of the register CXR are larger than the contents of the print start character position register PCR and it is confirmed that the copy print area has been specified normally, in step A9, The value obtained by subtracting the contents of the print start line register PLR from the contents of the cursor register CYR is set in the line number register LR as the line value of the copy print block, and step AIO
At this point, the value obtained by subtracting the contents of the print start character position register PCR from the contents of the cursor register CXR is set in the character number register OR as the number of character digits of the copy print block. After that, in step A11, the number of vertical print blocks that can be arranged within one page is calculated ((ML
R)÷(LR) (an integer value), and the calculated number of print blocks in the vertical direction is set in the work register W1. Furthermore, in step A12, after the contents of the line number register LR are set in the work register W2; step A13.
In this step, the number of horizontal print blocks that can be arranged within one page is calculated ((MCR) ÷ (CR) integer value), and the calculated number of horizontal print blocks is set in the work register W3. Ru. Next, in step A14,
The contents of the character count register CR are loaded into the work register W4, and in step A15, the contents of the print start line register PLR are loaded into the cursor register CYR.
In step A16, print start character position register P
The contents of CR are loaded into cursor register OXR.

Print start line to this cursor register CYR, CXR,
and loading the print start character position returns the cursor to the start of the copy print block.

Next, printing processing for the copy printing block is started.

First, in steps A17 to A20, 1 in one block is
Print processing control is performed line by line. That is, step A1
7, the cursor register CYR.

The characters in the first line and first column specified by CXR are read out from the document memory 17, transferred to the printer control section 15, and printed out by the printing section 13. Next, in step A1B, the contents of the work register W4 (the number of character digits of the block) are incremented by "-1", and in step A19, it is determined whether the contents of the work register W4 have become "O" or not. If it is not rOJ, the contents of the cursor register CXR are incremented by "+1" in step A20, the process returns to step A17, and the process of printing one character at the next digit position (first line, second digit) is repeated. It will be done.

This printing process for each character is repeated, and in step A19, the content of the work register W4 is set to "0".
Then, when determining the end of printing of one line in one block,
Next, step A21. In A22, it is determined whether or not the next block in the horizontal direction on the printing paper can be printed, and if the next block in the horizontal direction can be printed, the process returns to steps A14 to A20, and the first line of the next block is printed. The printing process for the following minutes is performed. That is, in step A21, the number of horizontal print blocks that can be arranged within one page calculated in step A13 is set to "-1", and step A
On the 22nd step, the content of 9-Credit W3 is "0"
It is determined whether or not. Here, work register W
If the content of 3 is not "0" (that is, if a printable horizontal block area remains), step A1 described above is executed.
The printing processes 4 to A22 are repeatedly executed, and the printing process for each line of the printable horizontal block area is executed.

Through the print processing in steps A14 to A22 described above, printing processing is executed line by line for each printable horizontal block, and when the contents of the work register W3 become rOJ, steps A23 to A25 and step AI3 are performed. ~A22, intra-block printing in the vertical direction (row direction) is executed for each of the horizontal blocks on the printing paper. That is, line feed processing is executed in step A23, and work register W is executed in step A24.
The contents of work register W2 (the number of rows in the block) are set to "-1", and in step A25, the contents of work register W2 are set to "0".
If it is not rOJ, the process returns to step A13, and the number of horizontal print blocks that can be arranged within one page is calculated again ((MCR) ÷ (OR).
), and after the calculated number of print blocks in the horizontal direction is set in the work register W3, step A14
Subsequent print processing is executed. The intra-block printing process for each of the horizontal blocks is executed, and in step A25, the content of the work register W2 becomes rOJ, and when it is determined that the intra-block printing process for each of the horizontal blocks is finished, the next step A26゜A
In step 27, it is determined whether or not the next block in the vertical direction (bottom column) on the printing paper can be printed, and if the next block in the vertical direction can be printed, the process returns to step A12 Intra-block printing processing is performed for each block in the next direction (each horizontal block in the lower column for the already printed block). That is, in step A2B, the number of vertical print blocks that can be arranged in one page calculated in step A11 is set to "-1", and in step A27, the content of the work register W1 is set to "0".
” is determined. Here, if the content of the work register W1 is not "0" (that is, if a printable vertical block area remains), step A described above is performed.
The printing processes I2 to A27 are repeatedly executed, and copy printing processes are performed for all printable horizontal and vertical block areas.

Then, in step A27, the work register W1
If it is determined that the content of is rOJ, step A
In 2B, clear the contents of execution key flag F,
That is, it is set to "0" and the copy printing process for one page is completed.

By using the above-mentioned copy printing process, a specified block of information to be printed that fits within a certain area of the printing paper can be printed on the printing paper using a simple operation input method and without preparing a large-capacity pattern memory. You can print out as many as possible with proper placement.

In the above embodiment, the copy printing block is specified by line and column, but the invention is not limited to this, and the structure may be such that it is specified by an address on the text memory 17, for example.

Further, in the above embodiment, the number of copy print blocks is automatically determined according to the format, but the invention is not limited to this, for example, the number of copy print blocks can be specified arbitrarily,
It may also be configured to print within a page by the specified number (or with the specified number as the maximum number of blocks).

Further, in the above embodiment, the printing position of the copy printing block is automatically determined according to the format, but
However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a configuration may be adopted in which, for example, a printing start position of a copy printing block is arbitrarily specified and copy printing is started from the specified position.

Further, in the above embodiment, the space between the copy print blocks is not taken into account, but for example, the space between the copy print blocks may be set at a constant interval, and the number of printable blocks may be calculated including this space. , Furthermore, a configuration may be adopted in which the above space can be specified arbitrarily.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the printing method of the present invention, any part of the area can be selected as a block to be printed from the storage means that stores information such as documents, figures, etc. that have been input or edited. By reading the read block-by-block information appropriately on the same page and printing it out on the same page, the information can be stored in a certain area of the printing paper using a simple operation input means. Print target information blocks can be properly arranged on the same printing paper by the number of blocks that can be printed, and then printed out. This allows the process to be done efficiently and quickly without the need for manpower when creating a large number of small pieces of printing document paper, such as cassette labels, circulation route paper, small flyers, etc., that fit in a certain area of the printing paper. can be done.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of main parts in the above embodiment. 11...Keyboard, 12...Display section, 13...
Printing unit, 14...Printer, 15...Printer control unit, 16...CPU, 17...Document memory, 18.
ROM, 19-RAM, fk...Copy print key, ek-...Execution key, cr, cl, cd, cu
-...Cursor key, MLR...Maximum line number register,
MCR... Maximum number of characters register, PLR... Print start line register, PCR... Print start character position register, CYR, CXR... Cursor register, LR...
Line number register, CR...Character number register, W1 to W4
...Work register.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) storage means for storing at least one page of document or graphic information; and print block designation means for selectively designating any part of the information stored in the storage means as a block to be printed. , comprising memory access means for reading out the information of the block designated by the print block designating means, and print control means for repeatedly printing the information read by the memory access means in different areas within the same page. A printing method characterized by (2) Claim 1, wherein the printing means includes means for calculating the number of printable blocks in the horizontal direction.
Printing method described in section. (3) Claim 1, wherein the printing means includes means for calculating the number of printable blocks in the vertical direction.
Printing method described in section.