JPH03217987A - Drawing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a drawing device that draws graphic information by writing a drawing pattern generated based on drawing coordinate values into an image memory.

[Prior art 1] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional drawing device, in which 1 is a drawing device, which generates drawing information based on drawing commands etc. given from a host processor 2, and stores data in an image memory 3. Write the drawing information to the line 《.

The drawing device 1 includes a drawing coordinate generator 4, a host processor interface 5, an image memory controller 6, a pattern register 7, and the like.

Next, the operation will be explained.

The drawing device 1 receives drawing commands from the host processor 2 and draws points, lines, etc. in the image memory 3. The contents of the image memory 3 correspond to a two-dimensional plane consisting of X and Y coordinates as shown in Fig. 6, and drawing is performed using the contents of the address corresponding to the X and Y coordinates of the point to be drawn. This is done by rewriting .

Next, the internal operation of the drawing device 1 will be explained.

The host processor interface 5 receives a drawing command from the host processor 2 and provides information necessary for drawing, such as drawing coordinates and figures to be drawn, to the drawing coordinate generator 4 and the image memory controller 6. The drawing coordinate generator 4 sequentially generates the coordinates of the figure according to the received drawing information. For example, in the case of FIG. 6, the X and Y coordinates of the black circle "●" in the diagram are sequentially generated. The drawing memory controller 6 receives the generated X and Y coordinates and stores them in the image memory 3 corresponding to them.
Calculate the address of and rewrite its contents. As a result, a figure (for example, a line) as shown in FIG. 6 is drawn.

Furthermore, the drawing device 1 shown in FIG. 5 is capable of drawing not only rlJO lines with a certain thickness as shown in FIG. 6, but also lines with a constant thickness as shown in FIG. 7(a). can. This is done by storing the pen pattern PP in advance in the pattern register 7 by the host processor 2 via the host processor interface 5, as shown in FIG. 7(b).

When the image memory controller 6 rewrites the image memory 3, it rewrites not only the contents of the address of the black circle but also the contents of the addresses corresponding to the four points around the black circle indicated by the pen pattern PP. In other words,
FIG. 7(a) shows a figure obtained by sequentially drawing the pen pattern PP (for example, 12 times in total) with a black circle as the center. An example of a drawing device having such a function is the μPD72123 manufactured by NEC Corporation, which is described in Nikkei Data Pro Microprocessor, August 1989 edition, pages MC5-314-328 and MC5-314-329.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Conventional drawing devices are configured as described above, and only one type of pen pattern PP can be specified, so even if it is possible to draw lines of a constant thickness continuously, , as shown in Figure 8, it is not possible to draw lines whose thickness changes continuously, and there are problems such as the lack of drawing expressive ability and the inability to draw lines with rich variety and high design quality. Ta.

This invention was made to solve the above problems, and by generating lines whose thickness changes depending on the given drawing coordinates, it is possible to create graphics using a pen pattern according to the thickness. The purpose is to obtain a drawing device that can draw information.

[Means for Solving the Problems] A drawing device according to the present invention includes a drawing coordinate generating means for generating drawing coordinate values of a point to be drawn, and a drawing coordinate generating means that generates a drawing coordinate value that changes based on the drawing coordinate value generated by the drawing coordinate generating means. The image forming apparatus is provided with a drawing pattern generation means for automatically generating a pattern to be drawn, and a control means for controlling development of the pattern generated by the drawing pattern generation means into an image memory.

[Effect]

In this invention, when the drawing coordinate generation means generates the drawing coordinate value of a point to be drawn, the drawing pattern generation means automatically generates a pattern that changes based on the drawing coordinate value, and the control means generates the generated pattern. is expanded into the image memory, and the pattern changes according to the drawing coordinate values.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a drawing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and the same parts as in FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals.

In the figure, 7a is a pattern register group consisting of n pattern registers, 8 is a pattern designator, which calculates the thickness of the line at the coordinates, and stores the pen pattern corresponding to the thickness. Generates a signal to select a register. Note that the pattern register group 7a is shown in FIG.
Pen patterns shown in a) to (C), such as patterns 1 to 3, corresponding to the thickness of the line are stored in advance in a rewritable manner.

In the drawing apparatus 1 configured in this way, when the drawing coordinate generation means (consisting of the drawing coordinate generator 4 in this embodiment) generates the drawing coordinate values of the points to be drawn, the drawing pattern generation means ( In this embodiment, the pattern register group 7a and pattern designator 8) automatically generate a pattern that changes based on the drawing coordinate values, and the control means (comprised of the image memory controller 6 in this embodiment) is generated. The pattern is developed and controlled in the image memory 3, and the pattern is changed according to the drawing coordinate values.

Specifically, the drawing device 1 receives a drawing command from the host processor 2 and draws points, lines, etc. in the image memory 3 in the same way as conventional drawing devices.

When a drawing command is generated, the host processor interface 5 receives the drawing command from the host processor 2,
Information necessary for drawing, such as drawing coordinates, drawing figure, line thickness, etc., is given to the drawing coordinate generator 4, the image memory controller 6, and the pattern designator 8. The drawing coordinate generator 4 sequentially generates the coordinates of the figure according to the received drawing information. At the same time, one of the patterns stored in pattern registers 1 to n designated by the pattern designator 8 is selected and output to the drawing memory controller 6.

The drawing memory controller 6 writes the pattern output from the pattern register group 7a into the image memory 3, centering on the drawing coordinates generated by the drawing coordinate generator 4.

By repeating this, it is possible to draw, for example, a line drawing whose thickness changes depending on the coordinates, as shown in FIG. 2(d). Of the black circles in FIG. 2(d), patterns 1 to 2 are drawn, patterns 2 are drawn to 3 to 6, and patterns 3 are drawn to 7 to 1o to correspond to the states.

The drawing process in the drawing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a drawing processing procedure in the drawing apparatus according to the present invention. Furthermore, (1)
~(7) shows each step.

First, it waits for drawing information to be input {1), waits for the drawing coordinate generator 4 to generate figure coordinates according to the drawing information received by the host processor interface 5 (2), and when generated, , analyze the coordinate information (3),
The pattern designator 8 calculates the thickness of the line at the coordinates and selects the pattern register in which the corresponding pen pattern is stored (4). Next, a generation pattern is selected (4), and the generation pattern is output to the image memory controller 6. In response to this, when the coordinates and pattern are determined (5), the image memory controller 6 writes the pattern output from the pattern register group 7a around the drawing coordinates into the image memory 3 (6). Next, it is determined whether the graphic coordinate data has ended (71) If NO, the process returns to step (3); if YES, the process ends.

In the above embodiment, a case has been described in which the drawing pattern generating means stores the pen pattern in the pattern register in advance and generates a pattern that changes according to the generated coordinates. However, as shown in FIG. Vessel 4a
, a second drawing coordinate generator 9, and a thickness generator 10 may be provided to perform the same putter generation process as described below. This makes it possible to draw lines whose thickness changes as shown in FIG. 8 with a high design quality.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a drawing apparatus showing another embodiment of the present invention, and the same components as in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

The first drawing coordinate generator 4a executes functional processing equivalent to that of the drawing coordinate generator 4a shown in FIG. A second drawing coordinate generator 9 generates drawing addresses for circles, ellipses, quadrilaterals, etc.

First, the first drawing coordinate generator 4 generates the coordinates of a black circle.

At the same time, the thickness generator 10 generates the thickness of the line at that time. Next, the second drawing coordinate generator 9 generates drawing coordinates of a circle, an ellipse, and a quadrilateral whose size corresponds to the thickness with the black circle's coordinates as the center. The drawing memory controller 6 is a second drawing coordinate generator 9
Rewrites the contents of the drawing memory at the coordinate address generated by . At this time, only the outlines of circles, ellipses, and quadrilaterals corresponding to points other than the last black circle are drawn, and only the interior of the last black circle is filled.

[Effect of the Invention J As explained above, the present invention includes a drawing coordinate generating means for generating drawing coordinate values of a point to be drawn, and a pattern that changes based on the drawing coordinate values generated by the drawing coordinate generating means. This apparatus is equipped with a drawing pattern generating means that automatically generates a drawing pattern, and a control means for controlling the development of the pattern generated by the drawing pattern generating means in an image memory, so that it is possible to easily draw a line whose thickness changes depending on the coordinates.

Therefore, effects such as being able to draw graphic information with a high design quality using a pen pattern corresponding to the thickness are achieved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a drawing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating pattern types stored in the pattern register group 3 shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart explaining an example of the drawing processing procedure in the drawing device according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a block diagram explaining the configuration of the drawing device showing another embodiment of the invention, and FIG. A block diagram explaining the configuration of the device, FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams explaining the line drawing state in a conventional drawing device, and FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram explaining the drawing process of lines whose thickness changes. It is. In the figure, 1 is a drawing device, 2 is a host processor, 3 is an image memory, 4 is a drawing coordinate generator, 5 is a host processor,
6 is an image memory controller, 7a is a pattern register group, 8
is a pattern specifier.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A drawing coordinate generating means that generates a drawing coordinate value of a point to be drawn, a drawing pattern generating means that automatically generates a pattern that changes based on the drawing coordinate value generated by this drawing coordinate generating means, and this drawing pattern generating means 1. A drawing device comprising: control means for controlling development of a generated pattern in an image memory.