JPH04367066A - Method and device for processing document - 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]

0001

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is capable of outputting any font data to an output device that is compatible with a page description language and has the function of registering font data, regardless of its functional limitations. The present invention relates to a document processing method and device that can be transmitted as data to an output device.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In conventional document processing devices, the printer side has a function of interpreting font data and transmitted commands in accordance with the page description language and rasterizing them. In the case of a system that can output by simply sending a command, if you try to print a font that is not installed on the printer side, send the font data as character data from the device itself and register it as the specified character code in the printer. and was printing.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional example described above, even if the character data is not incorrect, an error occurs when it is registered as character data due to the performance limitations of the printer's page description language. There was a case. For example, if the characters you want to output are 20
If the outline path data of the book is stored, this path data should be registered as character data, but if the printer's path limit is 10, the printer will stop all printing and print the raster data until then. There was a drawback that the expanded version may be cleared, resulting in no output. For this reason, the user has had to consider whether or not the printer has character data, and if not, whether or not it can be registered as character data.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In view of the above points, the document processing method and device of the present invention have the following configuration.The purpose of the document processing method and device of the present invention is to store information regarding the performance of an output device in advance, and to store font data. By checking whether the limit value that would cause an error is exceeded when sending font data as character data to the output device, errors will not occur regarding font data that would otherwise cause an error if it exceeds the limit. This is something that should be dealt with.

In view of the above points, the present invention has the following constituent elements.

[0006] Data is exchanged between the document processing side and the output side, which has the function of registering the sent font data as characters with a specific character code, and is capable of interpreting the sent command and rasterizing it. By exchanging the data, information regarding its performance is obtained from the output side, a limit value is derived from that information, the limit value is memorized, and the font data to be transmitted is determined based on the stored limit value. A document processing method characterized in that any font data can be transmitted as outputtable data by selecting an expression method for the font.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings. Note that the documents referred to in the present invention include texts (including tables),
It is a general term that includes figures, images, etc. Furthermore, as long as the functions of the present invention are executed, it does not matter whether it is a single device, a system consisting of multiple devices, or a system in which processing is performed via a network such as a LAN. It goes without saying that the present invention is applicable. It goes without saying that the present invention is also applicable to cases where the present invention is achieved by supplying a program to an apparatus or system.

(System Block Diagram) FIG. 1 is a system block diagram of a document editing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a system bus, and each of the constituent blocks to be described from now on is connected to this system bus. 2
is CPU (Central Processing).
Unit). 3 is program memory (PMEM)
), the program for editing processing is stored, selected/read from the hard disk 16 as appropriate, and the CP of 2 is stored.
Execute in U. Further, data input from the keyboard 10 is stored as code information in PMEM, which is also a text memory. Reference numeral 4 denotes an image memory (referred to as IMEM), which is used when rasterizing characters. 9
11 is an input control unit, which includes the keyboard of the keyboard input device 10 and the P.11 of the keyboard input device 10. An input device D (pointing device, such as a mouse) is connected. By operating this keyboard 10, the operator issues system operation commands and the like. Reference numeral 11 denotes a pointing device (referred to as PD) for instructing processing of image information on the CRT 14, and a mouse is used in this embodiment. This allows C
The cursor on the RT 14 is arbitrarily moved in the X and Y directions and a command icon on the command menu is selected to instruct processing, as well as to instruct the object to be edited, the drawing position, etc. 12 is video image memory (VRAM)
), 13 is a display output control section, and 14 is a CRT. The data displayed on the 14 CRTs is developed as bitmap data on the 12 VRAMs. For example, in the case of character data, a character pattern corresponding to the code is developed on the VRAM, and a cursor can be directly generated and displayed in the display area of the VRAM under software control. 15 is an external storage device control unit; 16 and 17 are disks for data files; for example, 16 is a hard disk drive;
17 is a floppy disk (referred to as HD).
It is a disk (referred to as FD). This system also includes font data, font/character size instruction information, which is sent from the communication control unit 5 via the communication port 6 and the communication line 7.
It is possible to receive the print position, character code string, etc., register it as a new character, develop a print bitmap image in its own IMEM 4, and print it out. Further, a plurality of printers 8 are connected which can transmit the same bitmap image data to the output device main body via the communication line 7.

(Block Diagram of Printer) Next, a block diagram of a printer 8 as an example of an output device is shown in FIG. 2
1 is a system bus, and each of the constituent blocks to be described from now on is connected to this system bus. 22 is a CPU. 23 is PMEM, which installs a program for printing bitmap image development output processing as appropriate on the hardware.
Select/read from disk 28 or ROM 30,
Execute on 2 CPUs. Furthermore, data received and input from the communication port 32 and the communication control unit 31 via the communication line 33 is stored as code information in the PMEM, which is also a text memory. Furthermore, the received input data is interpreted by 22 CPUs, and the font data is registered as new characters. When outputting a printout from a printer, a print image is developed as bitmap data in an image memory (referred to as IMEM) 24 and then outputted to a printout unit 26 under the control of a printout control unit 25 . 29
is an external storage device control unit, 28 and 27 are disks for data files, for example, 28 is an HD, and 27 is an FD.
It is. 30 is a ROM that contains control information for character fonts;
Bitmap data, contour information, etc., a control program for the printer 7, etc. are stored. When sending character bitmap data to the output device main body, use the PMEM23 mentioned above.
According to the code information stored in the font information, the font information is acquired and processed into appropriate bitmap data, which is then transferred from the communication control section 31 and communication port 32 to the main body of the apparatus via the communication line 33.

(Flowchart FIG. 3) FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the present invention in a document processing device. The present invention will be explained according to this figure. First, when an instruction to print a document is given, the main process begins. Needless to say, this flowchart is executed by the CPU 2 of FIG. In step S1, the performance of the CPU 22 (FIG. 2) of the printer is determined through the communication line with the printer, and the limit value of the printer is determined by calculation from that information and stored. This limit value is, for example, a value such that when character data is represented by outline path data, the upper limit value of a printer's path is 10. A flowchart at this time is shown in FIG. Details of how to obtain and store printer limit values according to this flowchart will be explained with reference to FIG. Next, in step S2 of FIG. 2, it is determined whether or not the document data or the page for which printing has been instructed ends. If it is not the end or the end of the page, the process advances to the next step S3 to analyze the data of the document to be printed. If the data is not character data, the process proceeds to step S4, where the data is converted into a command to the printer and sent to the printer. As shown in Figure 6, document data can be broadly divided into character data 6.
01, figure data 602, image data 60
In step S3, document data is divided into character data and other data.

Next, if the data is character data in S3 of FIG. 3, the process advances to step S4. Here, the structure of character data will be explained using FIG. 6. 604 is the code of the character to be printed or the string data of the character. 605 is a font ID for identifying from which font data the character code is obtained. 6
06 is information on how to transform and rasterize the font pattern. This deformation is, for example, italic, shadow, elongated, flat, etc.

Reference numeral 607 indicates intermediate color information of the font pattern. 608 is the vertical and horizontal size (dot size or character size obtained as a result of printing) of the font pattern. 609 is the rotation size of the font pattern. 610 is development reference point data of the font pattern.

Next, in step S5, it is determined from the character code data 604 whether data needs to be transmitted to the printer. If there is no need to transmit, the process advances to step S9. If it is necessary to send, step S
Proceed to step 6. In step S6, it is determined whether or not the limit value determined in step S1 will be exceeded when registering as character data. If the limit value is not exceeded, step S
In step 7, a command and character data for registering this character data as characters are sent to the printer. If the limit value is exceeded, in step S8, since this character data cannot be registered as a character, a command for outputting it as image data that does not depend on the limit value of the printer and the character data converted into image data are transmitted. An example will be explained using character data as shown in FIG. If it is determined that character data such as 71 is not installed in the printer, the character data is sent to the printer. This character is 20 as shown in 72
If the book outline path data is stored, this path data is registered as character data. At this time,
If the printer path limit is 10,
This data cannot be registered as character data because it exceeds the limit value. In such a case, rasterize this character to IMEM4 and convert it to dot data 7.
Convert to 3. This dot data is transmitted as character data. Since it is treated as image data, it will not exceed the limit and cause an error. In step S9, since all character data to be output is registered in the printer, data such as the position and size of the character to be output is transmitted. In step S10, it is determined whether the character data ends. If it is not the end, the process from step S5 is repeated until the end of the character string data. If it is the end, the process returns to step S2 and repeats the process from step S2 until the document data ends.

(Flowchart FIG. 4) Next, the process of determining and storing printer limit values will be explained by the CPU 1 of FIG. 1 according to the flowchart of FIG. 4. In other words, Figure 3
Step 1 will be specifically explained with reference to FIG.

First, in step S41, a command to return the version of the CPU 22 is sent to the printer through the communication line with the printer to obtain the version of the printer. Next, in step S42, the printer management table stored in the hard disk 15 is obtained. Incidentally, an example of the structure of the printer management table is shown in FIG. The printer management table is a collection of data including a version number 54, a path limit value 55, and a dictionary limit value 56. In addition, the initial version of the path limit value 52 and the dictionary limit value 53 are stored as the initial setting values of 51,
The last data is all cleared to 0.

The first data is obtained from this table, and it is determined in step S43 of FIG. 4 whether the data is the last data. At this time, if it is the last data, the initial setting limit value data is stored in the hard disk 15 or PMEM 23 as a limit value in step S44, and the process exits. If it is not the last data, it is compared with the printer version in step S45. If the versions do not match, the next data is obtained from the version management table in step S46, and the process proceeds to step S43. If the versions match, in step S47, the limit value data of that version is stored as a limit value in the hard disk 15 or PMEM 23, and the process exits.

(Other Embodiments) In this embodiment, when character data exceeds the printer's limit value when attempting to register it in the printer, it is registered as a dot image character. It is also possible to rasterize the data into the final output format and then send that data as image data without registering it as text.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing operations when character data is raster-developed as image data and then transmitted. The processing method will be explained below according to this flowchart. First, when an instruction to print a document is given, the main process begins. In step S801, the CPU 22 of the printer communicates with the printer through the communication line with the printer.
The printer's performance is calculated, and the limit value of the printer is calculated from that information and stored. Next, in step S802, it is determined whether or not the document data for which printing has been instructed ends or the end of the page is reached. If this is not the end or the end of the page, the process advances to the next step S803 to analyze the data of the document to be printed. If the data is not character data, the process advances to step S804, where the data is converted into a command to the printer and sent to the printer. In the case of character data, the process advances to step S805.

In step S805, it is determined from the character code data 604 whether data needs to be transmitted to the printer. If there is no need to transmit, the process advances to step S809. If transmission is necessary, the process advances to step S806. In step S806, it is determined whether the limit value determined in step S801 is not exceeded when registering as character data. If the limit value is not exceeded, a command and character data for registering this character data as a character are sent to the printer in step S807. If the limit value is exceeded, in step S808, this character data is transformed into a size desired to be output on the IMEM 4 based on the document data, and rasterized. Then, it is sent to the printer as image data. In this case, since it is not registered as a character and is treated as complete image data, it will not exceed the limit and cause an error. In step S809, since all character data to be output is registered in the printer, data such as the position and size of the character to be output is transmitted. In step S810, it is determined whether the character data ends. If it is not the end, the process from step S805 is repeated until the end of the character string data. If it is the end, the process returns to step S802 and repeats the process from step S802 until the document data ends.

[0020] As detailed above, when a printer that does not have the font data that you want to output is connected and you need to register font data in the printer, what kind of font data can be registered regardless of the printer's performance? This allows the user to edit efficiently without having to worry about character data that is not installed in the printer.

[0021]

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, the document processing side has the function of registering sent font data as a character with a specific character code, interprets the sent command, and performs raster development. It is possible to exchange data with an output side that is capable of performing various functions, and by exchanging data, information regarding the performance of the output side is obtained from the output side, a limit value is derived from that information, and the limit value is stored. It has become possible to provide a document processing method that can select the representation method of font data to be transmitted from stored limit values and transmit any font data as outputtable data.

As detailed above, according to the present invention, a document processing means for processing document information, a side of the document processing means,
a communication means capable of exchanging data with an output side that has a function of registering the sent font data as a character with a specific character code and is capable of interpreting the sent command and rasterizing it; Deriving means for obtaining information regarding the performance from the output side using a communication means and deriving a limit value from the information; storing the limit value derived by the deriving means; and using the stored limit value, It is now possible to provide a document processing device that has a transmission control means that selects the representation method of font data to be transmitted and transmits any type of font data as outputtable data.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1] System block diagram of a document processing device in an embodiment

[Figure 2] System block diagram of the printer in the embodiment

[Figure 3] Flowchart in the example

[Figure 4] Flowchart for determining printer limit values in the embodiment

[Figure 5] Diagram showing an example of the structure of version control data in the embodiment

[Fig. 6] A diagram showing an example of the structure of document data in the embodiment.

[
Figure 7: Diagram showing an example of the structure of character data in the embodiment

[Fig. 8] A diagram showing a flowchart in another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 System bus, 2 CPU, 3 Program memory, 4 Image memory, 5 Communication control unit, 6 Communication port, 21 System bus, 22 CPU, 23 Program memory, 24 Image memory, 25 Print output control unit,

Claims (2)

[Claims] [Claim 1] A document processing side and an output side that has a function of registering the sent font data as a character with a specific character code and can perform raster development by interpreting the sent command. By exchanging data, information regarding its performance is obtained from the output side, a limit value is derived from that information, the limit value is memorized, and the stored limit value should be used for transmission. A document processing method characterized in that a method of expressing font data can be selected and any type of font data can be transmitted as outputtable data. [Claim 2] Document processing means for processing document information;
Data is exchanged between the document processing means side and the output side, which has a function of registering the sent font data as a character with a specific character code, and is capable of interpreting the sent command and rasterizing it. obtaining information regarding its performance from the output side using the communication means;
a derivation means for deriving a limit value from the information; the limit value derived by the derivation means is stored; a method of expressing font data to be transmitted is selected from the stored limit value; 1. A document processing device comprising a transmission control means for transmitting data as outputtable data.