JPH04297919A - Drawing output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the set and change of sit conditions. CONSTITUTION:A ROM 3, EEPROM 4 and SRAM 5 are respectively connected through a bus 2 to a CPU 1. The ROM 3 stores a program for regulating the operation of the CPU 1, and the EEPROM 4 stores the set conditions of plural items related to the operation of a raster plotter controlled by the CPU 1. The EEPROM 4 can store the plural kinds of set conditions. The CPU 1 is connected an operation key 6 for switching a processing to a condition change mode and executing various condition setting operations in this condition change mode and a display device 7 for displaying the set items in the case of setting and changing the condition and set contents or the like set at that time point. Since the plural set conditions can be stored in the EEPROM 4 beforehand, it is enough only to select and call one of the plural set conditions when starting outputting a drawing, and the operation of the operator is simplified.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to drawing output devices such as plotters and printers that output drawings based on data provided from a host system, and in particular to setting conditions for a plurality of setting items necessary for outputting drawings. The present invention relates to a drawing output device that simplifies settings.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Devices such as plotters such as raster plotters and pen plotters, and printers such as page printers are used as drawing output devices. Such drawing output devices usually output drawings by receiving data from a host system.

[0003] When using the drawing output device as described above, it is necessary to set conditions for a plurality of setting items such as environment settings.

For example, when using a raster plotter,
There are setting items such as online, drawing environment, command, and pen table. In the online item, setup parameters related to an online interface (hereinafter referred to as "I/F") for communication with the computer of the host system are set. In the plotting environment item, setup parameters related to the plotting environment of the plotter alone are set regardless of the type of I/F or command. In the command item, a drawing command mode is selected in accordance with data input from the host computer, and setup parameters related to the drawing command related to that mode are set. In the pen table items,
Set the setup parameters related to the drawing pen.

In raster plotters, the setting conditions for setting items such as environment settings, commands, and line widths are stored in memory after being set and used for subsequent drawing output, but in conventional raster plotters, only one type of setting conditions are set. Only the following patterns could be stored in memory.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional raster plotter, only one type of setting condition pattern for a plurality of setting items is stored in the memory, and the setting conditions to be used are different from the previous setting conditions. When the conditions differ, the operator has to change the set conditions each time, making the operator's operations complicated when issuing drawings.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a drawing output device in which setting conditions can be easily set and changed.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] A drawing output device according to the present invention is a drawing output device that outputs drawings based on data given from a host system, and stores a plurality of types of setting conditions for a plurality of setting items. an electrically rewritable read-only memory for storing various setting conditions, and a condition selection means for selecting the setting condition in response to a condition selection request; and a setting condition selected by the means. an item display means for displaying each setting item; an item selection means for selecting a setting item to be changed from among the setting items displayed by the means; and a constant for the setting item selected by the means for read-only. constant display means for reading out and displaying the constant from memory; constant changing means for changing the constant displayed by this means; writing means for writing setting conditions including the constant changed by this means into the read-only memory; It is characterized by comprising a condition storage means for storing the setting conditions determined by either the condition selection means or the constant changing means, and a control means for controlling the drawing output according to the setting conditions stored in this means.

[0009]

[Operation] In the drawing output device of the present invention, multiple setting conditions can be stored in the memory in advance, so the operator can select and call up one of the multiple setting conditions when starting drawing. Operation is simplified. In addition, if you call up the setting conditions from the host side, even when drawings with different setting conditions are continuously output as drawing data, you can manually transfer the setting conditions at the same time as the drawing data. Drawings can be issued automatically without changing the setting conditions on the side.

0010

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a portion related to condition setting of a raster plotter as a drawing output device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A CPU (central processing unit) 1 is connected via a bus 2 to a ROM (read only memory) 3 and an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (hereinafter referred to as " EEPROM) 4 and SRAM (static random access memory) 5 are connected, respectively.

[0012] The ROM 3 stores a program that defines the operation of the CPU 1. EEPROM4 has C
Setting conditions for multiple items related to the operation of the raster plotter controlled by PU1 are stored. In this case, EEPR
OM4 can store multiple types of setting conditions. The SRAM 5 provides a storage area that is temporarily used in condition setting change processing and the like. In addition, CPU1 has
Operation keys 6 for switching the processing of the CPU 1 to condition change mode and performing various condition setting operations in this condition change mode, setting items for setting conditions and changing conditions, setting contents set at that time, etc. A display device 7 using, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal) for displaying is connected.

The drawing system including this raster plotter is composed of a raster plotter 11 and a host computer 12, as schematically shown in FIG. The operation panel 13 of the raster plotter 11 is provided with the above-mentioned operation keys 6 and display device 7, as shown in detail in FIG. The host computer 12 includes a computer main body 14, a display 15, and a keyboard 16.

Next, the operation of the raster plotter according to this embodiment configured as described above will be explained. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing in the condition setting mode.

In the condition setting mode, in the case of manual operation from the main body of the raster plotter 11, the operation key 6
When the setting condition memory selection key is operated (S1),
The CPU 1 controls the selection operation (S2).

FIG. 5 shows details of the selection operation. This selection operation will be described assuming that a plurality of types of setting conditions have been previously stored in the EEPROM 4 by operating the main body panel 13 and performing a setting condition changing operation to be described later.

In the selection operation, first, an arbitrary setting condition is selected from the EEPROM 4 (S11). The selected setting conditions are read from the EEPROM 4 (S12) and displayed on the display device 7 of the operation panel 13 of the main body of the raster plotter 11 (S13). The type of setting condition is set, for example, by specifying or changing the user number YN displayed on the display device 7 by operating the operation keys 6 or the like.

With the setting conditions displayed on the display device 7, the operator can change the conditions displayed on the display device 7. As mentioned earlier, EEPROM
The initial storage of the setting conditions for 4 is also performed by this setting condition changing operation.

With the setting conditions displayed on the display device 7, by operating the left or right arrow (“←” or “→”) key of the operation keys 6 on the operation panel 13 (S14). , the cursor (for example, a reverse display) on the display screen moves (S15), and the setting item to be changed can be selected. The display device 7 displays a state in which a setting item is selected (a desired setting item is highlighted) (S13).

[0020] With the setting item to be changed selected on the display device 7, by operating the up or down arrow ("↑" or "↓") key of the operation keys 6 (S16). , the display contents or display values on the display screen are sequentially changed (S17), and the setting contents of the setting items can be changed. The changed contents of the setting items are displayed on the display device 7 (S13).

When an invalid key among the operation keys 6 that has no meaning in this mode is operated (S18), a buzzer sounds (S19) to warn that the key is invalid.

With the setting conditions changed in this way, the conditions displayed on the display device 7 are transferred to the EEPROM.
4, by operating the SET key of the operation keys 6 on the operation panel 13 (S2
0), a message indicating that the setting conditions are to be registered in the EEPROM 4 is displayed (S21), and the setting conditions are written to the EEPROM 4 (S22). The setting conditions written in the EEPROM 4 are displayed on the display device 7 (S13).

If the drawing can be output using the conditions displayed on the display device 7, press the operation key 6 on the operation panel 13.
By operating the SHIFT key (S23), the next process, that is, the setting condition confirmation process (
Move on to S3).

Of course, first select EEPROM4.
Shift (S) with the setting conditions read from
If the HIFT key is operated, the setting conditions read from the EEPROM 4 will be used as they are. Normally, this operation is used in most cases, and conditions can be set with a very simple operation.

In the setting condition determination process (S3), the conditions selected by the selection operation (S2) are held in the SRAM 5, and the raster plotter 11 is initialized under these conditions to prepare for drawing output.

In the condition setting mode, when a condition is called from the host computer 12 side, the setting condition is first called from the host computer 12 side (S
4). When the setting conditions are called from the host computer 12 side, the host computer 12 checks whether conditions such as I/F parameters set in advance on the host computer 12 side are met (S5).
If it is compatible, control is transferred to the raster plotter 11 side,
As described above, the CPU 1 controls the selection operation (S2).

In this case, if it is acceptable to issue drawings under the setting conditions called up from the host computer 12 side, by operating the shift key while the setting conditions are displayed on the display device 7, the setting conditions can be changed. It is initialized and drawings are immediately issued in the set state.

If the I/F conditions preset on the host computer 12 side do not match the I/F on the raster plotter 11 side, a message indicating that the I/F is incompatible is displayed (S6), and the I/F It is checked whether the /F conditions are to be reset (S7), and when the I/F conditions are reset,
A check is made again to see if the I/F conditions are met (S5). If the I/F is not reset, the host computer 12 stops the subsequent processing.

In this way, a plurality of setting conditions can be stored in advance in the main body of the raster plotter 11, so that at the start of drawing, one of the setting conditions that have been set and registered in the memory is used. All you have to do is call one. Therefore, the operator's operation when issuing drawings becomes very easy. In addition, since the setting conditions stored in the raster plotter 11 can be called up from the host computer 12 side, the settings If you transfer the conditions along with the drawing data, raster plotter 11
Drawings are automatically issued without requiring any operation to change the setting conditions on the main body side.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented in various modifications, such as in a pen plotter or printer, in the same manner as described above.

[0031]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, setting conditions for a plurality of types of patterns can be stored in advance in memory, and one setting condition can be selected and recalled at the start of drawing output. Therefore, it is possible to provide a drawing output device in which operator operations are simplified and setting conditions can be easily set and changed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a condition setting section in a raster plotter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a condition setting section in the drawing system including the raster plotter according to the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a diagram showing the appearance of the operation panel 13 in the raster plotter according to the embodiment of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a part of the flowchart of FIG. 4 in detail.

[Explanation of symbols]

1...CPU, 2...Bus, 3...ROM, 4...EEPROM
, 5...SRAM, 6...operation keys, 7...display device, 11...
Raster plotter, 12... host computer, 13... operation panel, 14... computer main body, 15... display, 16... keyboard.

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: A drawing output device that outputs drawings based on data given from a host system, comprising: an electrical device having a storage capacity capable of storing a plurality of types of setting conditions for a plurality of setting items and storing various setting conditions; a read-only memory that is rewritable; a condition selection means for selecting the setting condition in response to a condition selection request; an item display means for displaying each setting item for the setting condition selected by the means; an item selecting means for selecting a setting item to be changed from among the setting items displayed by the means; constant display means for reading out and displaying a constant of the setting item selected by the means from the read-only memory; a constant changing means for changing the constant displayed by the constant, a writing means for writing setting conditions including the constant changed by this means into the read-only memory, and a constant changing means determined by either the condition selecting means or the constant changing means. 1. A drawing output device comprising: condition storage means for storing setting conditions stored in the means; and control means for controlling drawing output according to the setting conditions stored in the means. 2. The drawing output device according to claim 1, wherein the condition selection means is means for responding to a condition selection request given from a host system.