JPS6325052A - Method for generating line by character signal generator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To add an underline by software processing, by a method wherein the number of vertical lines are set to a text buffer and a black solid font is set to a line printing position and a space font is set to the other position and, at the time of the addition of lines, the number of the vertical lines are set so as to be reduced by the number of vertical lines of the added lines. CONSTITUTION:For example, a font comprises lateral 24 dots X vertical 32 dots and, since there are spaces on the upper and lower sides of a character (B in a drawing), when lines (e.g., two lines) are printed on the lower or upper ends of the character, an underline or upper line can be added. For example, when the underline is to be added, the printing of the character is performed at a line pitch of 30 at first and the line pitch is subsequently set to 2 to add the underline to a predetermined position. In the addition of this underline, a black solid font may be printed. By this method, B with the underline is printed. When no underline is added, a space font (white solid font) may be set.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to the addition of underlines and upperlines in a character generating device using a character map method.

(Prior Art) In a character image generation method using a character map method, data (including the start address of a character font) obtained by editing character code information provided from a host computer or the like is temporarily stored in a text buffer. When printing, the character pattern read from the font memory is sent to the printer as image data according to the data in the text buffer.

Conventionally, when printing an underline, the following method has been used.

■ Overwrite text with an underline font on paper or bitmap memory.

■ Print a horizontal line font for underlining below the characters, that is, between two lines of characters.

■ Use underlined fonts.

However, in the character map method where only the start address of the character font is stored in the text buffer, it is difficult to perform ■, which requires one line for underlining, and ■ doubles the font capacity. There are drawbacks such as: A similar problem exists regarding the addition of an upper line.

An object of the present invention is to add underlines, etc. by software processing without requiring any circuits or fonts for adding or adding underlines.

(Means for Solving Problems) A line generation method of a character signal generating device according to the present invention includes a text buffer in which the number of vertical lines of a character font can be set for each line, and a font containing a solid black font and a space font. In a character signal generator equipped with a memory, when adding or inserting a line above or below a line, the number of vertical lines for that line is set in the text buffer, and then a black solid is placed at the line print position. font,
A space font is set in other positions, and when a line is added, the number of vertical lines in that line is set to be less than the number of vertical lines of the added line.

(Operation) When adding or inserting a line, one line of data for line generation is added to the text buffer at the line addition or line insertion position. At this time, the number of vertical lines is set, and the lines are generated using a solid black font. Furthermore, when adding lines, the number of vertical lines in the row to which lines are added is set to be smaller by the number of vertical lines.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(a) Configuration of printer and character signal generator First, as shown in FIG.
The signal processing procedure in 1) will be explained. In addition,
In view of the technical content of the present invention, illustration and description of the mechanical configuration of the printer (1) will be omitted here, but in this embodiment, the beam from the laser is transmitted in the print head section (102) as will be described later. While modulating the image signal using a modulator, the image is scanned and projected onto the surface of the photoreceptor drum (+03) by an optical system including a polygon mirror, etc., and a print image is printed on the recording paper (6) by a known electronic copying process. Form.

The printing operation of the printer (1) is controlled by a control device (105), which will be described later, in appropriate relationship with the sorter (2) and the image reading device (3). Image reading device (3)
When a printing operation is performed based on the image signal read by the , the read image signal is temporarily stored in a storage device, or the read image signal is synchronized with the output of the image signal and then printed on the photoreceptor drum (103). to form an image.

The control device (105) receives an image signal from the character signal generator (101), outputs it to the print head (102) in synchronization with the mechanical operation of the printer (1), and modulates the beam. . Character signal generator (l 01)
The text buffer (201, see Figure 3) contains character codes sent from the host processing unit (4) via the interface (+06), including address data and character types (
font) data etc. When the storage for l pages is completed, the character signal generator (+01)
These stored data are sequentially outputted from the text buffer (201) according to the timing signal, and the font RO
The image data signal converted into a suitable dot signal by M(5) is output. Here, the host processing device (4) means a device that has a character signal processing function, such as a computer or word processor that handles character signals, and if necessary, printing can be started from this host processing device (4). A command signal is output, and the control device (105) receives the signal and starts a printing operation.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the character signal generating device (101) and its input/output relationship.

The character signal generator (101) is operated by a control CPU (hereinafter referred to as
CG CPU) (200), and this CG
The CPU (200') is a RAM in the control device (105).
is configured so that it can be shared and accessed with the control CPU (MCPU) in the control device (105), and the shared R
It exchanges data with the MCPU via AM. The character signal generator (101) also generates a dot clock signal (DCLK) that specifies the output timing of image data from the MCPU via the control device (105) when starting the image signal output process described below. Signal for specifying the address of the first text buffer memory (PR
L OAD) is input, and the print head unit (+02)
From there, a scan start signal (SSCAN) for line synchronization, which is output when a sensor (not shown) detects the laser beam, is generated via the control device (105).

The text buffer (201) is a readable/writable memory device such as a RAM, and data is input/output in parallel in units of character codes (for example, 8 bits), and an address is given to each unit. To write and read character data, the memory chip at the specified address is selected by inputting this address information to the text buffer (201) via the selector (202) and the write data via the selector (220). and perform sequential processing. When writing character data, the selector (202) receives CGCPtJ (20) from the host processing device (4).
0), and when reading character data, the count output of the address counter (203) is manually input, and these signals are selectively input to the text buffer (201) according to selection signals from the CGCPU (200).
to use human power.

The address counter (203) has a count signal input terminal (
It counts up the pulses input to CLK), and the data input to the data input terminal (IN) is preset as an initial value when a signal is input to the load input terminal (LD).

The load input terminal (LD) has a print head unit (10
The line scan start signal (SSCAN) from 2) is input. The count contents are cleared when the initialization signal (CADR) at the start of operation is input to the clear address terminal (CLR). Count signal input terminal (C
The output signals of the dot counter (205) and the comparator (206) are input to LK) via the OR gate (204).

The dot counter (205) is a presettable down counter, and receives the dot clock (105) from the control device (105) that defines the output timing of the image data described above.
A dot clock (DCLK) corresponding to the character pitch data is manually inputted via the gate (207) and preset by the CGCPU (200).
Each time K) is manually issued, a borrow (BO) is issued. The character pitch data uses the dot clock (DCL) to determine the character output width, which is determined in advance by the selected font, etc.
The data is fixed by the number of dots (K), and every time the dot counter (205) outputs, the address counter (203) counts up by "bi" and transfers the data to the text buffer (201).
). Borrow (B) of dot counter (205)
O) The output is input to the load input terminal (LD), and character pitch data is preset again at this timing.

When reading data, the text buffer (201) outputs the character code stored in the area corresponding to the address input via the selector (202), and outputs the character code stored in the area corresponding to the address input via the selector (202).
The font ROM (5) is accessed via the decoder (220), but its output data is also accessed via the decoder (220).
208), and the decoder (208) determines a line feed code and a page end code, which will be described later, and outputs signals (KAIGYO) and (PAGEND), respectively.

The page end signal (PAGEND) is sent to the CGCPU (2
00), while the line counter (209) is input along with the line feed signal (KAIGYO) via the OR gate
2IQ) and a flip-flop (211) that opens and closes the gate (207) of the above-mentioned dot clock (DCLK).
It is input to the reset terminal of.

The line counter (210) counts up and outputs it every time a line feed signal or page end signal is output, and the output is input to the Q input of the comparator (206) while accessing the font ROM (5). CGCPU
(200), the data is compared with the line pitch data manually input, and when P=Q, the comparator (206) outputs the row clock signal (G Y OCL K).
Output. As described above, the lock signal (G Y OCL K) to be executed is input to the address counter (203) via the OR gate (204) and also input to the clear terminal (CL R) of the line counter (210).
Clear the line counter (210) for each output. A further lock signal (G Y OCL K) is input to the load input terminal (LD) of the latch circuit (2+4) via the delay circuit (212) and the OR game (213).

The latch circuit (214) is an address counter (203)
The address output of is input to its data input terminal (IN), and the signal (ADLAT) is input to its load input terminal (LD).
When there is an input of CH), the address data is taken in and the output (LATDAT) is latched and used as an input signal to the data input terminal (IN) of the address counter. The signal (ADLATCH) to the load input terminal (LD) of this latch circuit (214) is connected to the delay circuit (212) described above.
and CGCPU (2) at the start of image data output processing.
The initial setting signal (PRLOAD) output from
) is output by

Font ROM (5) is text buffer (201)
The dot data of the specified line in the specified font of the specified character code is accessed by the character code from the line counter (210) and the line data from the line counter (210) is output in parallel. Serial converter (hereinafter referred to as P/S converter
215) converts the parallel signal into a dot clock (D CL
K), and this is output as image data to the modulator of the print head section (102) via the counter of the control device (+05).

Character signal generating device (101) configured as described above
Write and read operations in the CGCPU
(200), the timing is controlled and predetermined data is set, and the process is executed in response to a synchronization clock and a synchronization signal from the control device (105) and the print head unit (102).

(b) Text buffer storage method As shown in Figures 4(a) and (b), the 24-bit data stored in the text buffer (201) includes control data used to control the data. (
a) and the font address data shown in the address of the font memory (6) in Fig. 4 (b).
It is determined by The font address data consists of the first address in the font memory (6) of each character constituting the text, the upper font address from the 6th bit to the 0th bit, and the lower font address from the 23rd bit to the 8th bit. It is stored as data consisting of. The control data stores various control data.

The 3 bits from the 6th bit to the 4th bit are binary data indicating the number of bytes in the horizontal direction of the font. The Oth bit and the 1st bit are line feed (CR) respectively.
This is a page break (PE) signal. The third bit and the second bit are signals for specifying double-width printing, and specify double-size printing in the vertical direction and double-size printing in the horizontal direction of the font, respectively. The 6 bits from the 21st bit to the 16th bit represent the number of vertical lines (line pitch data) of the font (
The number of lines of the font read from the font ROM (5) can be freely set using this line pitch data. In the present invention, this fact is utilized to add underlines and upperlines. ). The 6 bits from the 13th bit to the 8th bit indicate the number of horizontal dots (character pitch data) of the font.

As shown in Figure 5, the 24-bit data in the text buffer (201) is stored in the memory starting at address 4000H, from bit 0 to bit 7 at address 8000H.
The 8th to 15th bits are stored in the memory from address GOOOH, and the 16th to 2nd bits are stored in the memory from address GOOOH.
Up to 3 bits are stored in 8-bit units.

FIG. 5 shows an example of the contents of the text buffer (201). The first data on the first line is control data for the first line of text.

Starting from the next stage, font data corresponding to each character in the first line of text is sequentially stored. Control data instructing a line feed is stored next to the column of the last character on the first line.

Control data for the second line of text is then stored. Starting from the next stage, font data corresponding to each character in the second line of text is sequentially stored. Control data instructing a line feed is stored next to the column of the last character on the second line.

In the same way, up to the last line of the page is stored. lastly,
Control data instructing a page break is stored.

Content from the next page of text is stored as well.

(C) The additional underline or upperline font consists of, for example, 24 dots horizontally by 32 dots vertically, as shown in FIG. 6(a). As is clear from the figure, there is a space above and below the character (B in the figure), so if you print a line (for example, 2 lines) on the bottom or top edge, you can add an underline or an upperline. .

For example, when adding an underline, first print the characters with a line pitch of 30 (see Figure 6 (b).
)) Next, the line pitch is set to 2 and an underline is added at a predetermined position. This underline can be added by printing a solid black font (FIG. 6(C)).

With the above, underlined B is printed as shown in FIG. 7(d).

If you do not want to add an underline, you can set a space font (white font).

For example, when printing "ABC to E" on the fourth line, the print data is stored in the text buffer (201) as shown in FIG. 1(a). That is, the number of vertical lines in the Q-th row is 30, and AXBSC.

Print D and E sequentially, set the number of vertical lines in the next line to 2,
Print a solid black font below B, C, and D.

Adding an upper line can be done in the same way. That is, in order to add an upper line, the number of vertical lines is set to 2 and a solid black font is printed at a predetermined position. Next, the number of vertical lines is reduced by 2 and the character font is printed.

For example, when ABτDE is printed on the m-th line, the print data is stored in the text buffer (201) as shown in FIG. 1(b). First, set the number of vertical lines of the additional line to 2, print a solid black font above B, C, and D, set the number of vertical lines of the m-th line to 30, and print A, ESC, D.
Print lE sequentially.

When inserting a line, print the line after the ejection with 32 vertical lines as usual, and print the inserted line with 2 vertical lines in a black font at the specified position. do it.

For example, print ABCDE on the 4th line and FG on the mth line.
When printing HI and inserting a line between BCD and GHI, the text is stored in the text buffer y (201) as shown in FIG. 1(C).

If you use the method explained above, even if you do not have underline fonts or upperline fonts,
When storing data in the text buffer, it is possible to add underlines and upperlines by setting line pitch data, black font, and white font.

(d) Flow of storing data in text buffer FIG. 8 shows the flow of adding an underline.

The following flags and registers are used here.

Status flag Indicates that a core underline is being added.

Underline start character number: Column number of character data when the status flag becomes 1.

Underline end character number: Column number of character data when the status flag becomes 0.

As an initial setting, a counter for the number of underlines in one line is set to zero (step pr).

If there is a request to start underlining from the host processing device (4) (step P2), a status flag is set and an underline counter is incremented by one (step P3). Next, store the column number of the manually entered character data in memory as the underline start character number (
Step P4), and writes the font start address corresponding to the character data into the text buffer (Step P5).

Until there is a request to end the underline, text editing processing is performed as usual until line break (step pH, PI
3).

When the end request is received (step pH), the status flag is turned off (step PI3), and the character string number at that time is stored in memory as the underline end character number (step P14). Further, until the line break, the text buffer (2
0+).

At the time of line break (step P12), a line break code is set in the text buffer (201). If the flag is not off (step P16), the last character string number of that line is stored as the underline end character number (step P17).

Next, in order to make the next line an underline line, the number of vertical font lines in the control data at the beginning of that line is first decremented by two (step P21). Then, the number of vertical lines of the font is set to 2 (step P22).

If the character string number is smaller than the underline start character number (step P3), set a white font in the text buffer (201) (step P24),
When it is located between the underline start number and the underline end number (steps P23 and P26), a black font is set in the text buffer (201) (step P25). This process continues until the underline counter becomes zero (steps P27 and P28). When the underline counter reaches zero (step P28), the addition of the underline has been completed, so a new line code is set in the winter text buffer (201) (step P29).

At this time, if the status flag is not on (Stella 7”P
31), return to the beginning. If the status flag is on (step P31), an underline will be added to the next line starting from the first character, so the underline start character number is set and the underline counter is also set to 1 (step P32). Then, the process returns to step P5 and the text buffer (201) is edited.

FIG. 9 shows the flow of adding an upper line.

The following flags are used here.

Continuation flag: Indicates that the upper line is being added.

Request flag: Indicates that an upper line request was made in the previous line.

The difference between the processing when adding an underline and the case of adding an underline is that the text buffer (20
1) The order of expansion is different. In the case of adding an underline, it is only necessary to memorize the point to be added, but in the case of an upperline, the font start address data once expanded to the text buffer and the character code after the upperline addition request is memorized. It is necessary to keep it.

Look at the continuation flag at the beginning of the line (step P51
), when it is off, control data for the normal number of vertical font lines is set, and when it is on, control data for the number of vertical font lines = 2 is set from the beginning because upper line addition is continuing (step P55). If there is a request to add an upper line (step P52),
Turn on the request flag and continuation flag and step P5
3) Search the control data at the beginning of the line and count the number of character strings so far (step P54).

Then, the process advances to step P55.

Next, the counted character string data is saved and a space font address is set in the text buffer instead (step P61).

The subsequent received character data is sent to the text buffer (201)
(Step P62), and until the upper line addition request is turned off (Step P63).
, a solid black font is set in the text buffer (201) (step P64). After turning it off, set the space font in the text buffer (201) (step P65), and turn off the continuation flag (step P6).
6). In response to a line feed request from the host processing device (4) (step P67), a line feed code is set in step P6.
8), Finish the upper line row. When the request flag is on (step P71), it means that there is unexpanded saved data in the text buffer (201).
Set the control data (number of font lines - 2) (Step P72), set the saved font start address data (font start address data + font horizontal byte number x 2) as a pseudo start address) and character code. Expand to text buffer (Step P73), set line feed code (Step P)
74), and turns off the request flag (step P75).

When the request flag is off (step P71), control data for the normal number of font lines is set (step P76), and text buffer editing is performed (step P77).

Through the above steps, the upper line is added.

If a line is to be inserted between character lines, the number of font lines may be set as usual in step P72 in the flow shown in FIG.

(Effects of the Invention) Lines can be added using a solid black font normally included in the font memory without providing an underline font or an upperline font.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 (a), (b), and (c) are, respectively,
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of data in a text buffer in the case of adding an underline, adding an upperline, and inserting a line. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the printer. FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the character signal generator. FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are diagrams of control data and font address data, respectively. FIG. 5 is a diagram of a text buffer. Figures 6(a), (b), and (c) are, respectively,
It is an illustration of a font. FIG. 7 is a diagram of an example of printing of underlined characters. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for adding an underline. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for adding an upper line. 5... Font ROM. 101...Character signal generator, 200...CPU
. 201...Text buffer. Patent Applicant: Minolta Camera Co., Ltd. Agent: Patent Attorney: Mr. Ueki and two others Figure 1 (a) Figure 1 (b) Figure 1 (c) Figure 3: 51!1 6 rl! Jla) (b)

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Adding lines to the top or bottom of a line in a character signal generator equipped with a text buffer that can set the number of vertical lines of a character font for each line, and a font memory that includes solid black fonts and space fonts. When inserting a line, set the number of vertical lines for that line in the text buffer, then add a solid black font to the line print position.
A line generation method for a character signal generator, characterized in that a space font is set in other positions, and when a line is added, the number of vertical lines in that line is set to be reduced by the number of vertical lines of the added line.