JPH01210355A - Character pattern generation - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve pattern generating speed without character quality deterioration by developing a bit map using vector data obtained by connecting only required end points in accordance with the size of a character. CONSTITUTION:Vector data 1 contains the end-point coordinates of a vector corresponding to the profile of each character and other data, and is stored in a pattern storage memory. A bypass flag 11 is a flag value representing a plurality of steps which determines whether each end point in the vector data 1 should be bypassed or used. A vector data reading means 2 converts an input code entered into a read address of a vector data 1 storage memory and reads the corresponding vector data 1. A bypass determination means 3 compares size data entered with the bypass flags 11 at individual end points contained in the vector data 1, and determines whether the end points should be bypassed or used. A vector generation means 4 generates vector data by connecting only the end points which use is determined. A bit map development means 5 develops the generated vector data into bit map data.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] A method for generating character patterns in a printer device.In order to reduce the time required to generate a character pattern, vector data corresponding to the outline of a character is stored. A multi-step bypass that indicates whether to bypass or use each endpoint of each vector in the vector data when generating a character pattern that reads vector data corresponding to an input character code and develops it into bitmap data. A vector data reading means that converts the input character code into a read address of the vector data storage memory and reads the corresponding vector data, and size data and vector that specify the size of the character to be output. bypass determining means for comparing the bypass flags of each end point in the data and determining whether to bypass or use the end point; vector generating means for generating a vector by connecting only the end points determined to be used; It is equipped with a bitmap expansion means that expands a vector into bitmap data, and determines whether or not to use the endpoints in the vector data according to the specified size data, and converts the vector that bypasses the endpoints determined not to be used into a bitmap data. Configure to expand to data.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to the generation of character patterns in a printer device, and particularly to a character pattern generation method in which the outlines of characters are connected using vector information.

In addition to the conventionally widely used dot pattern method, methods for generating character patterns include a method called an outline method or a vector force method.

In the outline method (vector method), vector information corresponding to the outline of a character is stored in a pattern storage memory, read out and developed in a bitmap memory, and then
It is used for printing.

Creating high-quality fonts with different sizes and inclinations using the dot pattern method requires a huge amount of data, but with the outline method, processing such as enlarging, reducing, rotating, etc. is performed based on information about the outline of the character. In addition to Nize, characters with different inclinations can be easily generated.

Therefore, its use is expanding, but one drawback is that the speed of character generation is slow. Therefore, there is a need for a method to improve the speed of character generation.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration for character pattern generation and printing using the conventional vector method.

As shown in the figure, a data bus under the control of a central processing unit (CPU) 10 includes a memory (ROM, RAM) 20 for storing processing programs and fixed data, and a display (DPL) 30 for input monitoring. A keyboard (KB) 40 provided, a printer (PR) 50, and an external transmission/reception control 6o are connected.

The above configuration is common to general printers, but in addition to this, as a configuration for the vector system, vector information corresponding to the outline of each character is stored in the pattern storage memory 7° shown on the left side of the bus in the figure. is stored. The address determination unit 8o reads out the vector information with the stored address and sends it to the vector expansion unit 9o.
The vector expansion section 90 expands the vector information to a predetermined position on the bitmap memory 100.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, in conventional program development for parallel computers, even the slightest modification of the program requires time-consuming operations, so if the program is modified many times, it is necessary to stop thinking each time. However, the efficiency of software development was extremely low.

In order to solve this problem, ordinary computers adopt an interpreter based on the same language specifications.
It runs the program without compiling it and responds immediately and interactively to changes in the processing flow. However, it has been difficult to realize a flexible interpreter with conventional parallel computers. There are two reasons for this:

■The programs on the host computer side and the PE side must be separated.

■The program on the PE side is to develop and provide a program for a parallel computer that solves problems in the processing flow by each PE.

[Means to solve the problem]

FIG. 1 shows a principle block diagram of the character pattern generation method of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is vector data, which includes the coordinates of the end points of the vector corresponding to the outline of each character, etc.
Stored in pattern storage memory.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a bypass flag, which is a multi-stage flag value that determines whether to bypass or use each end point in the vector data 1.

Reference numeral 2 denotes vector data reading means, which converts the input character code into a read address of the vector data 1 storage memory and reads the corresponding vector data 1.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a bypass determining means, which compares the input size data with the bypass flag 11 of each end point in the vector data 1, and determines whether to bypass or use the end point.

4 is a vector generating means, which generates a vector by connecting only the end points determined to be used.

5 is a bitmap expansion means, which expands the generated vector into bitmap data.

[For production]

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 2, multiple stages of bypass flags are added in advance to each end point of the vector in the vector data of each character.

In FIG. 2, (0) to (8) are end point numbers.

(1) ~ [Phase] are bypass flags, which are attached to each end point except the starting point (0), and have flag values in 10 stages in this example. The value of the bypass flag for each end point is determined by conducting a test in advance to determine whether or not to bypass according to the character pattern and character size.

For example, 1 is the data that specifies the size of the characters to be printed.
It is converted into 0-level size data and expressed.

When a code specifying a character is input, the vector data reading means 2 determines the address from the code and retrieves the vector data of that character from the pattern storage memory.
The bypass determining means 3 compares the bypass flag and size data of each end point, determines whether to use or bypass the end point according to the comparison result, and then outputs the vector generating means 4.
to notify. As shown in FIG. 3, the vector generating means 4 generates a vector that connects only the end points determined to be used. The bitmap expansion means 5 expands the generated vector into a bitmap.

FIG. 3 shows a vector generated from the vector data shown in FIG. 2 according to the size specification data, (al indicates the case where the size data is 10, and (b) shows the case where the size data = 7. show.

In this way, by drawing by-passing the end points that are not valid or invalid depending on the size of the characters to be printed, it is possible to improve the speed of character pattern generation without degrading the quality of the characters.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 8.

FIG. 4 shows a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows that, compared to the conventional system configuration shown in FIG. The configuration is the same.

The address determining section 80 corresponds to the vector data reading means 2 in FIG. do.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing processing according to an embodiment of the present invention, and its operation is as follows.

■Read size data that specifies the size of printed characters.

(2) Determine the read address of the pattern storage memory from the code of the input character.

■Read character vector data from pattern storage memory.

■ Compare the bypass flag and size data of each end point in the vector data, and if size data □ bypass flag, proceed to step ■, otherwise step ■
Proceed to.

■Record it as a valid endpoint.

■Determine if the data for one character is complete. If completed, proceed to step ■; if not completed, return to step ■.

■Generate a vector by connecting the end points recorded in step ■.

■Expand the generated vector into a bitmap.

■Determine whether the input character data is complete, and if the input character data is complete, end the process; if not, return to step (■).

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of vector data in one embodiment of the present invention.

Vector data consists of data at the end points of each vector,
The data of one end point consists of 1 byte of control data, 1 or 2 hides' X coordinate data, and 1 or 2 hides' Y coordinate data. The upper four bits of the control data are a bypass flag, and the lower four bits are used as control information indicating the start point, end point, curve, and straight line. With this data structure, 1
Six levels of size data are obtained.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart 1 showing the processing according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The operation will be explained below according to the steps of the flowchart.

■Read the font specification data of printed characters. Font specification data is represented by a font matrix as shown below.

offset value.

■From matrix elements a and d, x = max(a, d
), that is, choose the larger one of a and d, and apply the magnification (described later)
Determine the size factor from.

■Read the code of the character to be printed and convert it to the read address of the pattern storage memory.

■Read out the character data from the pattern storage memory.

■Bypass coefficient and step for each end point of vector data■
Compare the size factors calculated in . If the size coefficient is large, proceed to step ■; if it is small, proceed to step ■.

■The end point is considered valid and its coordinate value is stored.

■Determine whether the hector data of one character is completed, and if completed, proceed to step ■; if not completed, return to step ■.

(2) Perform matrix calculations on the stored end point coordinate values using the font matrix.

■Generate a vector by connecting the generated end point coordinates.

[Phase] Expand the generated vector into a bitmap.

■Determine whether the input character data is complete, and if the input character data is complete, end the process; if not, return to step (■).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a coefficient determination method in a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 (al shows the procedure for determining the bypass coefficient.

1024 x 1024 on the character original pattern (1)
Overlap the meshes, extract curve vector data (2), and create outline photo data based on curve data (3)
Create.

Next, outline font data (3) based on curve data is 4096X4096.2048X2048.
1024X1024I512x512.256x256
．． 128x128. Approximate to a straight line vector in a coordinate system of 64 x 64 degrees with an error range of 0.5 meso (4).

The vector end point coordinates of each linearly approximated coordinate system are converted to the maximum size coordinate system (4096×4096), and overlapping points are marked <1. That is, the end point of the vector linearly approximated in the 4096 x 4096 coordinate system is 64 x
If the end point of the vector linearly approximated in the 64 coordinate system overlaps with the end point of the vector linearly approximated in all coordinate systems, the count is 7, and the linear approximation is performed in the 4096 x 4096 and 2048 x 2048 coordinate systems. Only the vector endpoints that are used overlap; all other unused endpoints are rounds. 1-number 2. This count number is used as the bypass coefficient of the end point of the vector, and is defined as "outline font data based on straight line data having a bypass coefficient" (5).

FIG. 8(b) is a diagram showing a method for determining the size coefficient according to the scaling factor. 4096X shown in Figure 8(a)
Based on the 4096 coordinate system, the magnification is 1/2 to 1 (
The base f$) is set as a size factor 1, the magnification 174~1/2 is set as a size factor 2, the magnification 1/64~1/32 is set as a size factor 6, and the magnification 1764~ is set as a size factor 7. In this case, as shown in the third column, if the coordinate system of 4096 x 4096 is used as a reference, if the scale is reduced by 1/2, the result will be 2048.
This is because the range is 204B x 204B, and if reduced at a magnification of 1/32, the range is 128 x 128B.

Figure 8 (C1 has a standard font size of 2048 x 2048, and each has a font size of 1024 x 1024.5
12 x 512.256 x 256, 128x12
8. This is statistical data obtained by examining the font data scene (data N from which bypass data according to the present invention has been deleted) when the font size is 64x64.

As shown in the figure, if the magnification is small, the amount of data reduction will be quite large.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, a bitmap is developed using a vector that connects only necessary end points according to the size of the characters to be printed, so the pattern generation speed can be improved without degrading the quality of the characters. The practical effect is extremely large.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams explaining the present invention in detail, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a diagram of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a process according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a coefficient determination method in a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a system configuration according to a conventional example, and FIG. 10 is a diagram explaining problems in the conventional example. In the drawing, l is vector data, 11 is a bypass flag, 2 is vector data reading means, 3 is bypass determining means, 4 is vector generation means, 5 is bitmap expansion means, 10 is central processing unit (CPU), 20 is memory (ROM, RAM), 30 is display (DPL), 40 is keyboard (KB), 50 is printer (PR), 60 is transmission/reception control, 70,
110 is a pattern storage memory, 80 is an address determining section, 90 is a vector expansion section,
Reference numeral 100 indicates a pin-map memory, and reference numeral 120 indicates a bypass determination unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In generating a character pattern, vector data corresponding to the outline of a character is stored, vector data corresponding to an input character code is read out, and this is developed into bitmap data. It is equipped with a multi-step bypass flag (11) that indicates whether to bypass or use each end point of each vector in data (1), and converts the input character code into a read address of the vector data (1) storage memory. and the corresponding vector data (
1), and size data specifying the size of characters to be output and bypass flags (11) for each end point in the vector data (1).
bypass determining means (3) for comparing the end points and deciding whether to bypass or use the end points; and vector generating means (4) for generating a vector by connecting only the end points determined to be used.
), and a bitmap expansion means (5) that expands the generated vector into bitmap data, and determines whether or not to use the end points in the vector data according to the specified size data, and determines whether or not to use the end points in the vector data. A character pattern generation method characterized in that a vector bypassing a determined end point is developed into bitmap data.