JPS61294543A - Print control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the print of the graphic data, the image data, etc. for each page in addition to the character data by preventing the entrance of printing by a print key in the middle of obtaining the page data, and executing the page length setting and form matching at the head and the end of a page respectively. CONSTITUTION:The host data 1 is supplied to a character buffer 6 from a computer 1 via a terminal controller 2 and printed by a printer control part 7. The data A is printed as conventional. When the data D is printed, the part 7 identifies the head identifier BOP (start of page) of the buffer 6 to set a page mode and decomposes the data D into dots to write them to a full-dot memory 8. Then the head identifier MOP (middle of page) of the data E is identified and written to the memory 8 in the same way. The identifier EOP (end of page) of the data F is identified and also written to the memory 8. Then an indication is issued to a printer 9 to print an amount equivalent to the page length (l inches).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Application of the Invention] The present invention relates to a print control system, and particularly to a print control system suitable for printing data from a host computer on continuous paper page by page.

[Background of the invention]

Conventionally, when data is sent from a host computer to a terminal printer and printed, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-74380
As shown in the publication, the host computer sends the data to be printed to the printer device in character buffer units,
The printer device was printing directly in character buffer units. Therefore, after printing in character buffer units.

There is a problem in that when a print instruction is input from the keyboard, the data of the print instruction from the keyboard is printed between data from the host computer. This will be explained with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the configuration of a printer system, in which a host computer 1 connects to a printer device 3 via a terminal control device 2 and a display device! ! Connected to 4.

The display device 4 includes a keyboard 5, and the printer device 3 includes a character buffer 6. FIG. 7 shows host data and printing results. Note that NL (NEW LINE) in the host data in Figure 7 (1)
), FF (FORM FEED) indicates the line feed control code, and the line feed units of NL are 8, 6, 4.3 LPI (L
INE PERINCH), and FF is LPI&N
It is twice Watanaga.

As shown in FIG. 7 (1), the host computer l stores data to be printed in character buffer units (A), (
Data (A) is first sent to the printer device a3 via the terminal control device t2. Printer device i! 3, the sent data (A) is taken into the character buffer 6, and (A') in FIG. 7 (2) is read.
Print as shown. When printing of this data (A) is finished, press the print key on the keyboard 5, and the terminal control device 2
instructs the printer device 3 to print the screen data displayed on the display device [4]. In response to this, the printer device 3 prints the screen data using the print key next to (A') as shown in FIG. 7(2).

Thereafter, the printer device 3 converts the data (B) and (C) sent from the host computer 1 into (B') and (
C').

In this way, conventionally, printing is performed in character buffer units, so if a print instruction is entered using the print key during that time, it will not be possible to obtain continuous print results from the host data.For example, dot image data is The amount of data required to handle this is large, and one page's worth of data cannot be stored in one character buffer.Therefore, the host computer has to transfer the data in several character buffer units, but the conventional In this method, when a print request is received using the print key after printing for each character buffer is completed, the printing is performed, resulting in the dot image of one page being divided. Consists of FF's line feed control code, NL's line feed unit is 8.6,4゜3LPI, and FF's LPI is N.
Because it is a multiplication, it cannot be used in cases where it is necessary to specify the length in dot units, such as in image data, in addition to character data.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to prevent printing from entering the print key in the middle of one page of data when character data, graphics, and image data are printed on continuous paper page by page.
Furthermore, by performing long length setting and paper alignment at the beginning and end of the page, in addition to printing character data, it is possible to print graphics and image data on a page-by-page basis, and to improve operability. .

[Summary of the invention]

In the present invention, in order to distinguish between character data and page data, page data is provided with first, middle, and last identifiers, and printing by the print key is prohibited during this page data. Also, it is now possible to specify the length setting and paper alignment at the beginning and end of the page.

This makes it easier to switch between characters and page data.

[Embodiments of the invention]

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a printer system according to the present invention. A host computer 1 is connected to a printer device 3 and a display device 4 via a terminal control device E2. Display device! 4 is equipped with a keyboard 5. Printer device [3 is a printer control unit 7 consisting of a microprocessor configured with a character buffer 6, dot decomposition control, and printing control; a full dot memory 8 with a dot capacity for one page; and a printer capable of printing one dot line at a time. Consists of 9.

Here, (A) and (B) of the host data in Figure 7 (1)
Consider printing by inserting one page of image data between the two pages. The host data in this case is shown in FIG. 2 (1), and the printing result is shown in FIG. 2 (2).

Since image data handles dots, the amount of data is large, and one page's worth of data cannot be created with one character buffer. Therefore, the data will be transferred in several character baths.

In this case, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2 (1), B OP (Beginof
Page), and MOP (Mid) for intermediate data (E).
die of Page), E for final data (F)
An OP (End of Page) identifier is attached to the beginning of each data block. The BOP also specifies the length. The length may be specified by a length of 1, for example, Q inches, or by an n-dot line.

In the following explanation, it is assumed that 2 inches is specified in BOP.

Host data (A) and (D) in FIG. 2 (1).

(E), (F), and (B) are sequentially input from the host computer 1 to the character buffer 6 via the terminal control device 2,
The printer control unit 7 performs printing processing.

The printing process for data (A) is the same as before. When the printer device 3 receives data (D) into the character buffer 6, the printer control unit 7 identifies that there is a BOP at the beginning of the character buffer 6, sets the page mode, and inputs the data (D) in the character buffer 6. The dots are separated and written into the full dot memory 8, but are not printed on the printer 9 yet.

Next, data (E) is input to the character buffer 6 in the same manner. There is an MOP at the beginning of this data (E), and the printer control section 7 recognizes that the data (E) is intermediate data of a page, decomposes the data into dots, and writes them into the full dot memory 8.

Next, data (F) is entered into the character buffer 6.

There is an EOP at the beginning of this data 31 (F), and the printer control unit 7 recognizes that it is the final data of the page, decomposes the data (F) into dots, and writes it into the full dot memory 8. When this is completed, , the printer control unit 7 controls the printer 9 to print the length (Q inches) specified in the BOP.
to print one page worth of image data in the full driver l-memory 8. In this way, the printing results (D'), (E'), and (F') shown in FIG. 2 (2) are obtained.

When the printing of one page of image data is completed, the printer control unit 7 cancels the page mode, and when the primary data (B) is input to the character buffer 6, the data (B)
is printed in the same way as before.

On the other hand, when the print key is pressed on the keyboard 5 during page mode, the terminal control unit! ! 2 is the printer device m! Check the status of step 3, and if it is in page mode, the print key will not be pressed. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the printing operation by the printing keys of the keyboard 5 from entering into the middle of the page.

2, as shown in the print result in FIG. 2 (2).

If page data is printed immediately after printing host data (A), the print result may be printed across the perforations of the paper. To prevent this, it is necessary to align the sheets at the beginning of one page of data. If the perforation is to be placed at the beginning of the form, the length from the perforation to the perforation is set in the printer 9. In this case, printer 9 is FF
When the (Fora+Feed) is picked up, the paper is fed so that the printing position is on the perforation. Therefore, by setting the FF code before the host data (D) and after the host data (F) in FIG. 2(1), it is possible to prevent the printed result from appearing on the perforation. FIG. 3 shows the host data and printing results in this case.

However, in the case of Figure 3, the FF code is treated as one of the character data, so it takes 1 to send only the FF code.
This occupies the character buffer, resulting in poor buffer usage efficiency.Furthermore, it is necessary to enter an FF code for each host data, which is troublesome. Furthermore, it is also conceivable that printing by the print key may be inserted between (G) and (D) and between (F) and (H) of the host data in FIG. 3(1), for example.

Therefore, in the present invention, the FF is specified by the BOP and EOP added to the first data and the last data of page data. FIG. 4 shows the host data in this case. In other words, the beginning of page data is BOP, but when printing after form feed, it is BOP (FF), and the end of the page is E.
OP, but when form feeding is performed after printing one page, EOP (FF) is used.The print result of the host data in FIG. 4 is the same as the print result shown in FIG. 3(2).

In addition, when one page of data is independent, OOP (Only o
f Page), and when performing form feed before and after oop, it is sufficient to distinguish between OOP.

For example, OOP (1) prints one page after form feed, OOP (2) prints form feed after printing one page, and OOP (2) prints form feed after printing one page.
OP (3) may be distinguished so that form feed is performed before or after the first page.

The processing flow of the embodiment of the present invention described above is summarized as shown in FIG. Most of this processing flow is executed by the printer control section 7 shown in FIG.

When host data is received in the character buffer 6 (step 100), it is determined whether there is an identifier at the beginning (step 101). If there is no identifier, the data in the character buffer 6 is decomposed into dots and stored in the full dot memory 8. and prints it out on the printer 9 (steps 102, 103), as in the conventional method.

If there is an identifier at the beginning of the data in the character buffer 6, the subsequent processing is divided as follows depending on whether the identifier is BOP, MOP, EOP, or OOP.

First, if the identifier is BOP (step 104), the printer device 3 is set to page mode, the data in the character buffer 6 is decomposed into dots, input to the full dot memory 8, and the next data reception is waited for (step 104). 105
, 106), and in the case of MOP (step 107), the data in the character buffer 6 is decomposed into dots and input into the full dot memory 8, and the next data reception is similarly awaited.

Next, if the identifier is EOP (step 108), the data in the character buffer 6 is decomposed into dots and inputted to the full dot memory 8 (step 109), and then it is determined whether FF is specified in BOP (step 110). )
, FF is specified, execute form feed and print the contents of the full dot memory 8 by aligning the perforation with the beginning of the page data (steps 111, 112), FF.
If F is not specified, the contents of the full dot memory 8 are printed after the previous print result (step 112).

Next, it is determined whether FF is specified in the EOP (step 113), and if FF is specified, the page mode is reset after executing the form feed (steps 114, 115), if FF is not specified. , reset the page mode without performing form feed (step 115).

Next, if the identifier is OOP (step 116), the data in the character buffer 6 is decomposed into dots and input to the full dot memory 8 (step 117), and then the data is
Step 1: Check whether F is specified at the beginning of the page.
18) If specified at the beginning of the page, execute form feed and print the contents of the full dot memory 8 with the perforation aligned with the beginning of the page data.Steps 119 and 12
C1), if FF is not specified, the contents of the full dot memory 8 are printed as is (step 120).

Next, it is determined whether oop'''QFF is designated as the end of the page (step 121), and if it is designated as the end of the page, form feed is executed (step 122).

Character buffer 6 identifier is BOP, MOP, EO
If it is neither P nor OOP, the data received in the character buffer 6 is regarded as invalid data, and is discarded, for example (step 123).

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, in addition to printing characters on continuous paper, graphic and image data, which require a large amount of data, can be printed on a page-by-page basis without providing a large-capacity character buffer. Further, it is possible to align the pages of paper when printing page data without reducing the efficiency of character buffer usage or complicating the program of the host computer.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of host data and printing results according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure shows an example of host data and print results when page alignment is performed, Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of host data when page alignment is performed according to the present invention, and Figure 5 shows the operation of Figure 1. FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer system, and FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of host data and printing results in a conventional method. 1...Host computer, 2...Terminal control device, 3.
...printer device, 4.display device, 5.
...Keyboard, 6...Character buffer, 7
...Printer control unit, 8...Full dot memory, 9...Printer. Fig. 1 Fig. 2 fil f-st.'-912)
% Izumi 3 Figure Nail String Te°゛-7 Figure 5 Figure 7

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) In a printer system equipped with a host computer and a printer device, in which data is sent from the host computer in units of predetermined data blocks and the data is printed by the printer device, the data block is the first, middle, last, or An identifier indicating that the data is single page data is provided in the data block, and the printer device determines whether or not to print in units of data blocks based on the identifier, and prints the page data all at once. Print control method. (2) The print control method according to claim 1, wherein the identifier has a part that specifies the length of page data. (3) Claim 1, characterized in that the identifier indicating the first, last, or single data in the page data has a part that specifies whether or not to perform paper feeding for page alignment. Or the print control method described in Section 2.