JPS6376086A - Pattern restoring system from contour vector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain accurate pattern restoration by simple processing and less memory capacity by forming a discriminating point indicating the internal and external changes of a pattern from a supplied contour vector string. CONSTITUTION:For instance, data accumulated as a curved dot string having ordering property obtained by vectorizing the contour of a dot pattern by using a straight line generating means such as a DDA are used. A discriminating point forming means 1 forms a discriminating point indicating the internal and external changes of the pattern on a pattern memory. An inter- discriminating point painting means 2 paints out discriminating points formed on the pattern memory by the means 1. A contour line restoring means 3 restores the contour line of the pattern on the pattern memory based on the contour vector string. Consequently, the inside of the pattern applied as the contour vector string can be rapidly and accurately painted out/restored only by using a pattern memory having the number of bits corresponding to the pattern size.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Overview] Conventionally, edge list technology has been used to store character patterns and symbol patterns as contour vector data, and to restore the original tondo pattern from the data as necessary. The method, edge flag method, and several other methods are known, but they have problems such as complex processing, lack of accuracy, and large memory requirements. 6 In order to solve these conventional problems, the present invention generates a discriminant point indicating that the inside and outside of the pattern change from a given contour vector sequence,
By restoring the original character pattern or symbol pattern using the discriminant points, it is possible to restore an accurate pattern with clean processing, and there is no need for a pattern memo or a smaller amount of memory than before. This paper discloses a method for restoring a pattern from contour vector data, which can be realized using the following methods:

[Industrial Field of Application] In order to reduce the storage capacity of computerized phototypesetting machines, word processors, personal computers, etc., the present invention expresses character patterns and symbol patterns as contour vectors, and if necessary, the original dots can be In the field of restoring and outputting patterns, or in fields such as computer graphics that require processing to fill in the inside of figures expressed in vectors, it is possible to This method relates to a method of restoring the original pattern by filling out the inside of the pattern.

[Prior Art] Conventional pattern restoration methods or fill-in methods include methods such as the edge list method and the edge flag method.

Among these methods, the edge list method requires scanning the pattern, detecting the outline of the pattern, and determining from where to where the pattern is inside and outside, but this is extremely difficult. There was a problem in that the process was complicated and the processing was complicated.

Additionally, the edge-flag method has a problem of lacking accuracy.

Therefore, as a means for filling out a pattern relatively quickly and accurately, for example, "Polygonal Internal Area Filling Apparatus" (Japanese Patent Application No. 60-0488
No. 96)" etc. have been proposed.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Among the conventional pattern restoration methods described above, the method using the "polygon internal area filling device" restores from bending point data.
It is possible to define a discrimination point on the contour of a polygon that indicates that the inside and outside of the polygon change, and to fill in a pattern relatively quickly and accurately based on that point. Since a memory for storing contour data and a memory for storing discriminant point data are required separately, a pattern memory with a storage capacity twice the number of bits corresponding to the size of the pattern is required. Therefore, there was a problem that it could not be used if there was a limit to the usable memory capacity.

In view of these conventional problems, the present invention makes it possible to restore and fill in character patterns and symbol patterns without the need for pattern memory or with a small amount of pattern memory, as well as to create accurate patterns with simple processing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a means for restoring a pattern from contour vector data that can perform pattern restoration.

[Means for Solving the Problems] According to the present invention, the above-mentioned object is as described in the claims. The method includes means for generating discriminant points indicating that the inside and outside of the pattern change, and means for filling the inside of the pattern based on the discriminant points. , a pattern restoration method from contour vectors that can reduce the pattern memory for restoring a pattern by restoring the contour lines, or a method of restoring patterns from contour vectors that can reduce the amount of pattern memory needed to restore the pattern, or a method of restoring patterns from contour vectors that can be used to determine the points at which the inside and outside of a pattern change from the contour vector sequence of a given pattern. This is achieved by a pattern restoration method characterized by comprising means for generating discriminant points shown in the figure, means for holding the discriminant points, and means for generating black run vectors of the pattern based on the discriminant points. .

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention, (a
) corresponds to claim (1) "Jj," and (b) corresponds to claim (2).

In FIGS. 1(a) and (b), the input contour vector sequence is a contour vector representation of a given pattern, for example, the contour of a dot pattern is vectorized using an AHs generating means such as DDA. This data is accumulated as an ordered series of bending points.

In FIG. 1(a), 1 is a sequence of these contour vectors (
This is a discriminant point generating means that generates discriminant points indicating that the inside and outside of the pattern change on the pattern memory based on the bending point sequence).

Reference numeral 2 denotes a means for filling in between discriminant points, which is a means for filling in between discriminant points generated on the pattern memory by the discriminant point generating means 1. 3 is a pattern ring based on the contour vector sequence! This is a contour line restoring means for restoring Is 4m on the pattern memory.

In FIG. 1(b), 4 is a sequence of these contour vectors (
This is a discriminant point generating means that generates discriminant points indicating that the inside and outside of the pattern change based on the bending point sequence).

5 is a discrimination point holding means, which may be in the form of a pattern memory or a coordinate point table of discrimination points; 6 is a means for vectorizing black runs of the pattern;
From the discrimination points held by the discrimination point holding means 5,
It generates a black vector of a pattern. The black run vectorization means 6 depends on the implementation form of the discriminant point holding means 5, but if the discriminant point holding means 5 holds the discriminant points on the pattern memory, the black run vectorization means 6 searches the pattern memory to vectorize the black run. It is means for generating a vector, and if the discrimination point holding means 5 is in the form of a coordinate point table, it is means for searching the coordinate point table and generating a black run vector. 6 is a pattern restoring means that actually generates a black run and restores a pattern based on the generated black run vector.

[Function] In the configuration shown in FIG. 1(a), the interior of the pattern given by the contour vector sequence can be quickly, accurately, and
Filling/restoring can be performed by simply requiring a pattern memory with a number of bits corresponding to the size of the pattern.

In the first configuration shown in (b), the black run vector can be accurately generated from the pattern given by the contour vector sequence, so the original pattern can be generated regardless of the presence or absence of pattern memory. Can be restored. Also, when generating an enlargement/reduction pattern,
If the black runs are vectorized after enlarging/reducing the contour vector, processing such as interpolation between scanning lines required for enlarging run-length encoding/I small etc. is unnecessary, and enlargement/1iF small pattern The present invention is also very effective in producing.

[Embodiment] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, 8 is a memory that stores a contour vector sequence of a given pattern.

First, the discrimination point generation circuit 9 reads the contour vector string, generates discrimination points indicating that the inside and outside of the pattern change, and writes them into the pattern memo IJ12.The generation of the 9 discrimination points is performed in steps I to II below. It is done as follows.

FIGS. 3(a) to 3(d) show examples of generation of discriminant points in various cases. In FIG. 3, * represents a discriminant point.

Step ■〉 While interpolating between the curved point sequences and generating the coordinate values of the contour points,
Extract a series of consecutive points (horizontal part) with the same Y coordinate. For interpolation of bending points, it is sufficient to have a straight line generation means between two points.For example, the DDA (Digital Differential Analyzer)
Analyzer) is used.

<Step ■> If the Y coordinates of the points before and after connected to the horizontal part are different, one point in the horizontal part is generated as a discrimination point. If they are equal to 0, no discrimination point is generated.

Further, the discriminant points are generated by exclusive OR.

That is, if a point that should be a discrimination point already exists, that discrimination point is not used as a discrimination point.

While generating the discriminant points through the above processing, the discriminant point generation circuit 9 writes the discriminant points into the pattern memory 12. At this time, the contour points interpolated by the bending point sequence are not written into the pattern memo IJ12.

Next, in the discrimination point filling circuit 10, the pattern memory 12 is read out, and the areas between the discrimination points are filled in by the following steps IV (see Fig. 4), and the size of the pattern memory is set from (Xmin, Ymin) to (Xmax). , Yia
x).

<Step I> Y=Ymin.

<Step II> FLG -0,X -Ymin
.

<Step ■> If (X, Y) is the discrimination point, F
LG-1-FLG.

(X, Y) is not a discrimination point, And if it is FLG-1, Paint (X, Y).

Step iv＞　　　x−x+t If X≦X+*ax, Go to step ■>.

Ku step ■〉　YRinY+1 If Y≦Ymax, Go to step ■〉 If Y>Xmax, end.

Next, the contour line restoration circuit 11 reads out the contour vector sequence again and interpolates the contour points between the bending points. For the interpolation, a straight line generation means connecting two points used in the discriminant point generation circuit 9 is used, and processing is performed according to steps 1 to 2 shown below using, for example, I) DA.

Step I >C; 1-eos(φ)G 2 =s
in(φ) -Xi Y shoulder YI R1-X 1 + 0.5 R2-Y 1 + 0.5 Step n> R1 Wealth R1 + GI R2 Deflection R2 + G2 Step m> If 1nt(R1)≠X or 1n
When t(R2)≠Y, a point is generated at the coordinates (X, Y): X - 3nt(R1) Y = 1nt(R2).

<Step ■> If the point (X, Y) is not equal to the point (X2.Y2), go to <Step ■>.

Otherwise, exit.

However, int is a function that truncates the fraction below the decimal point.

The contour line is restored by the above processing and is stored in the pattern memory 12.
, the original pattern is restored on the pattern memory 12.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the above-mentioned pattern restoration process, in which (a) shows a contour vector sequence, (b) shows the generation of discriminant points from the contour vector sequence, and (c) shows the difference between the discriminant points. (d) shows the restoration of the contour line. In figure 0, the mouth is the inflection point, ・ is the discriminant point, Δ is the point where the discriminant point returned, and O is the filling between the discriminant points. The points and ◎ represent points restored by contour line restoration.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention.

In this figure, 13 is a memory that stores a contour vector sequence of a given pattern.

First, the discriminant point generation circuit 14 reads the contour vector sequence 13, generates discriminant points indicating that the inside and outside of the pattern change, and writes the generated discriminant points into the discriminant point holding memory 17.The generation of the 0 discriminant point is performed by the step process shown below. ~■ is carried out.

Moreover, examples of discrimination point generation are explained in FIGS. 6(a) to 6(g). In the figure, . indicates a discriminant point, and .mu. indicates a point where a variety of discriminant points are generated.

Step I> While interpolating between the bending point sequences and generating the coordinate values of the contour points,
Extract a series of consecutive points (horizontal part) with the same Y coordinate. For interpolation of bending points, it is sufficient to have a straight line generating means between two points.
Digital Differential Anal
yzer).

Step ■> If the Y coordinates of the points before and after connecting to the horizontal part are different, one point in the horizontal part is generated as a discrimination point.

The location where the discriminant point is generated depends on how the bending point sequence is maintained, but for example, if the bending point sequence is maintained in order in the clockwise direction of the pattern contour, the location shown in FIG. 6(a)
.

It is generated at the position shown in (b).

If the Y coordinates of the points before and after connecting to the horizontal part are the same, and if the horizontal part is the maximum or minimum point, the horizontal Generate discriminant points at both end points of the section.

However, as shown in FIGS. 6(e), (f), and (g), if the discriminant point is generated multiple times, that is, if the point that should be a discriminant point is already a discriminant point, it will be generated an even number of times. If the
If double is generated an odd number of times, it is treated as one.

While generating the discriminant points through the above processing, the discriminant point generation circuit 14 writes the discriminant points into the discriminant point holding memory 17.

The discrimination point holding memory 17 may be a two-dimensional pattern memory or a coordinate point table (for example, a coordinate point table in the format shown in Table 1).

In the case of a pattern memory, 2 bits/1 point memory is required to distinguish between a normal decision point and a doubly generated decision point. On the other hand, in the case of a coordinate point table, the discriminant point coordinates may be written into the table every time a discriminant point is generated.

Next, in the black run vector generation circuit 15, the discriminant point information is read from the discriminant point holding memory 17, and a black run vector of the pattern is generated (see FIG. 7).8 If the discriminant point holding memory 17 is a pattern memory, , the pattern memory is searched in the horizontal direction, and a black run vector connecting the discriminations is generated (see FIG. 7). At this time, it is necessary to distinguish between a normal discriminant point and a doubly generated discriminant point, and for a doubly generated discriminant point, a black run vector from that point to that point is generated. If it is not necessary to generate a black run vector, the original pattern can be restored by filling in the spaces between the discrimination points on the pattern memory in the horizontal direction. On the other hand, when a coordinate point table is used as the discrimination point holding memory 17, discrimination is made in the vertical direction (Y direction) in units of the same object (in units of rows in Table 1), and in the horizontal direction (X direction) in coordinate order. Performs sorting of point coordinates. After sorting, a black run vector is generated by extracting the discrimination point coordinate values for every two sets and using them as the start and end points of the black run vector.

In this way, from the black run vector generation circuit 15, 1
Since black run vectors are generated for each raster, the pattern restoration circuit 16 restores the pattern by simply generating black runs between the generated black run vectors.

FIG. 7 is a diagram explaining an example of restoring the pattern described above, in which (a) shows an example of a contour vector sequence, (b) shows the generation of discriminant points for the contour vector shown in <a>, and (c)
(d) shows the generation of the black run vector, (d) shows the restoration of the pattern, where the mouth is the inflection point, / is the discrimination point, MU is the point where the discrimination point is generated twice, and ○ is the point filled by the black run vector. It represents the point that was

Table 1 [Effects of the invention] In recent years, the introduction of digital character processing technology has progressed, and now O
We are living in an era where the quality of text itself is being questioned in A devices and computer typesetting systems.

Since such a system or device requires a huge number of character patterns, a huge amount of storage capacity is required to store them. To solve this,
A means is required to compress the character pattern using contour vector representation and to restore the original pattern as necessary.

Furthermore, in fields such as computer graphics, there is a need for a function to color the inside of a figure given by vector data.

In response to such demands, according to the present invention, the inside of the original pattern can be filled in quickly and accurately from a given contour vector sequence by the means recited in claim (I). Furthermore, the original pattern can be restored by simply requiring a pattern memory with a number of bits corresponding to the size of the pattern.

Furthermore, according to the means described in claim (2),
Since black run vectors of the original pattern can be generated accurately and quickly from a given contour vector sequence, the original pattern can be restored regardless of the presence or absence of pattern memory.

Also, when generating an enlargement/reduction pattern, if the black run vector is generated after enlarging/reducing the contour vector sequence, the scanning amount required for enlarging/reducing the length-encoded pattern can be interpolated. Such processing becomes unnecessary.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of discriminant point generation, and Fig. 4 is a pattern restoration process. 5 is a block diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of discriminant point generation, and FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of pattern restoration. . 1.4...Discrimination point generation means, 2...
...Filling between discrimination points, 3...
・Contour line restoring means, 5... Discrimination point holding means, 6... Black run vector generating means, 7
......Pattern restoration means, 8.13...
...Contour vector string storage memory, 9.14...
......Discrimination point generation circuit, 10...
・Filling circuit between discrimination points, 11...
Contour restoration [1i11.12... Pattern memory, 15... Black run vector generation circuit,
16... Pattern restoration circuit, 17...
Discrimination point retention memory agent Patent attorney Sada Igeta - (a) (C)
o o=bo o
o->. oooo oooo o
o o. (b) ' cd) Grade A1
Fig. 3 shows the sand formation of the 3rd figure r contour vector sequence Fig. 4 Fig. 4 Block diagram showing another section of the present invention Fig. 6 Fig. 6 Fig. 6 showing the generation of the discrimination 2 part Fig. θ Backlash vector dazzle ``Restoration of pattern'' 1 element example of pattern 1 knee) 7.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) means (1) for generating a discriminant point indicating that the inside and outside of the pattern change from a sequence of outline vectors of a given pattern; and (2) means for filling the inside of the pattern based on the discriminant point; means (3) for restoring the outline of the pattern from the outline vector sequence, the outline characterized in that the pattern is restored by restoring the outline after generating discriminant points and filling in between the discriminant points. Pattern restoration method from vectors. (2) means (4) for generating a discriminant point indicating a point where the inside and outside of the pattern change from a sequence of outline vectors of a given pattern; a means (5) for holding the discriminant point; 1. A pattern restoration method comprising: means (6) for generating a black run vector of a pattern based on the points.