JPH0532014A - Information processing method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] An information processing method and apparatus for transferring initial setting information of emulation information when the emulation on the printer side is switched in response to an emulation switching instruction from the host side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing method and apparatus for transferring emulation initial setting information when the emulation information on the printer side is switched by an instruction from the host side.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, emulation switching means is configured to switch from a plurality of types of emulation means to a desired emulation means by a switch or a command such as a command.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, since the setting of the information necessary for each emulation is set by using the setting means such as the DIP switch, the following drawbacks occur. there were.

(1) Every time a plurality of emulation means are switched, the setting of emulation information corresponding to each emulation means must be performed by operating a dip switch or the like, which is very troublesome.

(2) If the setting device means corresponding to the number of emulation means is provided and the setting means is switched at the same time as the switching of the emulation means, the above complexity can be prevented, but the setting device means having a similar function. The number of emulation means (such as DIP switches) is required, which increases the cost.

[0006]

According to the present invention, emulation initial setting information memory means for storing initial setting information of each emulation means, and emulation setting for storing currently set emulation setting information. Information memory means, switching from a plurality of emulation means to a desired emulation means, and reading the selected emulation initial setting information from the emulation initial setting information memory means and writing to the emulation setting information memory means By providing the means, the emulation setting information is set according to each emulation when a plurality of emulations are switched.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The country designation in the present invention means designating a desired group from a plurality of groups specified by certain conditions relating to document processing, such as language and region. In addition, the group may include a plurality of countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States by designating the United Kingdom, or may specify the country of Japan and one of the countries, but it corresponds to almost all the languages used. Is.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a personal computer (hereinafter abbreviated as personal computer) as an information processing apparatus of the present invention. The personal computer 1 includes an apparatus main body 101, a keyboard 102, an upper cover 104 including a display unit 103, a printer 2, and the like. Top cover 10
4 is rotatably attached to the apparatus main body 101 via hinges 104a provided at both ends of its rear edge. Therefore, when using this device, the upper cover 10
4 can be opened to a position where the display 103 can be easily seen by the rotation, and can be closed when not in use to function as a cover. As the display element of the display section 103, a liquid crystal display element is used because the display section can be made thin.

The printer unit 2 using an ink jet recording head is arranged in front of the keyboard 102 and is housed in the main body 101 of the apparatus. Further, the printer unit 2 has an opening (not shown) that can be opened and closed by the operator so that the recording head can be replaced.

The recording paper 3 is inserted from a paper feed port 101a provided in the lower part of the keyboard 102, conveyed in a conveyance path penetrating the inside of the apparatus main body 101, and ejected from a paper ejection port (not shown) at the rear of the device. It The keyboard 102 is the device body 1
01 is rotatably attached via hinges 102a provided on both sides of 01. Thereby, even when a relatively short length of recording paper such as an envelope or a postcard is used, the keyboard 102 can be opened at the top and the recording paper 3 can be inserted deep inside the transport path. Since the conveyance path for the recording paper 3 is provided below the keyboard 102, the keyboard 102 and the display unit 103 are set even when the recording paper is set.
Various operations using are possible.

[Schematic Block Diagram of Host-Printer] FIG. 2 shows a schematic block diagram of a host computer and a printer.

First, in the host computer, it is the central processing unit (CPU) that controls the main control, and it is the BIOS ROM that directs the basic control.
(Basic Input Output System
m ROM). From floppy disk (FDD) or hard disk (HDD) to floppy disk controller (FDC) or hard disk controller (H
The application program is read via the DC) and the program is executed using the system memory (RAM). At this time, the display method of the screen is VG
Characters and the like are displayed on a liquid crystal (LCD) using an A (Video Graphic Adapter) controller (VGAC), and key input from the keyboard (KB) is performed via the keyboard controller (KBC). Here, the numerical processor (FPU) is C
It supports arithmetic processing for PU.
The real time clock (RTC) indicates the elapsed time at the present time, and the dedicated battery operates even when the power of the entire system is turned off. DM
The A controller (DMAC) transfers data at high speed between the memory and the memory, between the memory and the I / O, and between the I / O and the I / O, so that the A controller (DMAC) transfers the data without intervention of the CPU. Interrupt controller (IRQC)
The interrupt from O is accepted, and processing is performed according to the priority order. The timer (TIMER) has a free-running timer of several channels and manages various times.
In addition, there are a serial interface (SIO), an expansion port (PORT), and an LED that informs the user of the operating status, which are connected to the outside. The printer is connected to the host computer through a parallel interface, and data is transmitted / received at the register level of the I / O port, and the image of the connection is the same as when the data is exchanged with an external printer.

[Block Diagram of Printer] FIG.
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a printer device.

The printer device is a CPU for controlling the printer.
# 2, ROM # 2 with printer control program, printer emulation program and print font, RAM # 2 for storing development data for printing and received data from host, printer for driving print head and motor of printer It consists of a controller that controls access to the driver and memory, exchanges data with the host, and sends control signals to the printer driver.

[Arrangement of Printer Driver] FIG. 4 shows the arrangement of the recording head and head driver.

Here, in this example, the discharge unit has 64 discharge ports, and # 1 to # 64 indicate numbers corresponding to the positions of the discharge ports provided in the discharge unit. R1 to R64 are heating resistors as ejection energy generating elements provided corresponding to the ejection ports # 1 to # 64. The heating resistors R1 to R64 are divided into blocks in units of eight, and the switching transistors Q1 to Q8 of the common side driver circuit are shared by each block.
Are connected. The transistors Q1 to Q8 turn on / off the energization path in response to turning on / off of the control signals COM1 to COM8, respectively. It should be noted that D1 to D64 arranged in the energization paths to the heating resistors R1 to R64 are diodes for backflow prevention.

On / off transistors Q9 to Q16 of the segment side driver circuit are connected to the heating resistors located at corresponding positions between the blocks. The transistors Q1 to Q16 have control signals SEG1 to SEG, respectively.
The energization path for the heating resistor is turned on / off according to the turning on / off of 8.

FIG. 5 shows a timing chart of head drive according to such a configuration. At a certain position in the head scanning direction, the common side control signals COM8 to COM1 are sequentially turned on. When the block is turned on, one block is selected to be in a state in which it can be energized.
When the EG8 to SEG1 are turned on or off, the heating resistors are selectively energized, and ink is ejected according to the heat generation to perform dot recording.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of the carriage motor and the motor driver.

FIG. 7 shows the driving timing.

Explaining with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, a stepping motor having coils Φ1 to Φ4 is used as a carriage motor, and switch transistors TR1 to TR4 connected to each coil by drive signals CM1 to CM4.
By properly turning on / off, as shown in FIG.
It is driven by the phase excitation method.

The feed motor has the same structure,
It is driven by the drive signals FM1 to FM4.

[Configuration of Printer Controller] FIG. 8 shows a configuration diagram of the printer controller shown in FIG.

The functional blocks of the controller are the I / O data register for exchanging data at the command level with the host, and the receive buffer controller for directly writing the received data from the register to the RAM # 2. The print data is read from the print buffer provided to the head driver and COM1 to C
A print buffer controller for sending control signals of OM8 / SEG1 to SEG8, and 3 for RAM # 2.
Direction, that is, CPU # 2, receive buffer controller,
The memory controller for controlling memory access from the print buffer controller is composed of the above four blocks.

FIG. 9 shows a map of the I / O data register (shown in FIG. 8) of the printer.

Among them, the motor control port controls the port by directly rewriting the value of the register to drive each motor (CM1 to CM4, FM).
1 to FM4).

The print buffer area is used to set a data area required for printing, and the start address (PB STA
RT) and end address (PB END) are set, the print buffer controller sequentially reads the print data from the start address within the range, and the print data is read from RAM # 2 until the end address, and the head driver is read. Send a control signal. At this time, the print data address pointer (PB POINT) indicates the data address of the data currently being sent.

Similarly, the reception data buffer area also sets a data area required for reception, and has a start address (IB START) and an end address (IB END).
By setting, the reception buffer controller writes the reception data in order from the start address within the range, and the reception data is written to the RAM # 2 until the end address. At this time, the reception data address pointer (IB POINT) indicates the data address that has already received the data.

FIG. 10 shows the address areas of the print buffer (PB) and the receive buffer (IB) on the RAM # 2 in the above operation. Each address is shown in Figure 9.
As shown in, the instruction is given in the printer I / O register. The interface area is a common I / O area between the host computer and the printer.

The interface area is an area for exchanging data with the host computer.
It corresponds to a parallel interface port in the host computer.

The interface area is shown in FIG.
Will be described with reference to a diagram showing the correlation in the interface area between the host computer and the printer.

The I / F data, I / F status, and I / F control registers on the host side have the same addresses as the I / F data, I / F status, and I / F control registers on the printer side. In addition, the address map is set so that the address (n, n + 1, n + 2) seen from the host side can correspond to the address (m, m + 1, m + 2) seen from the printer side.

That is, the address of this portion is a register which can be read and written bidirectionally.

As shown in FIG. 14, the host computer side is also provided with an I / O register for controlling peripheral devices, which is used for I / O control in the host computer. That is, the I / O area of each block shown in FIG. 2 is provided, and only the control area of the interface therein is common to the interface area of the I / O register on the printer side.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view for explaining the internal structure of a printer unit (FIG. 2) using an ink jet recording system to which the present invention is applied or applied. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 5001 denotes an ink tank, and 501
2 is a recording head coupled to it. The ink tank 5001 and the recording head 5012 form an integral replaceable cartridge. Reference numeral 5014 is a carriage for attaching the cartridge to the printer main body, and reference numeral 5003 is a guide for scanning the carriage in the sub-scanning direction.

Reference numeral 5000 denotes a platen roller for scanning the recording paper 3 in the main scanning direction. Reference numeral 5024 is a paper feed motor for rotating the platen roller. The carriage 5014 is provided with a flexible cable (not shown) for supplying a signal pulse current for driving and a current for head temperature control to the recording head 5012, and a print circuit provided with an electric circuit for controlling the printer. It is connected to a plate (not shown).

Further, the printer unit 2 having the above configuration will be described in detail. The carriage 5014 that engages with the spiral groove 5004 of the lead screw 5005 that rotates via the driving force transmission gears 5011 and 5009 in conjunction with the forward / reverse rotation of the drive motor 5013 has a pin (not shown),
It is reciprocated in the directions of arrows a and b. Reference numeral 5002 denotes a paper pressing plate which holds the paper in the platen 5 in the carriage movement direction.
Press against 000. Reference numerals 5007 and 5008 denote home position detecting means for confirming the presence of the lever 5006 of the carriage 5014 in this area by a photocoupler and switching the rotation direction of the motor 5013. 5016
Is a cap member 502 that caps the front surface of the recording head.
Reference numeral 5015 is a member for supporting the inside of the cap, and 5015 is a suction means for sucking the inside of the cap.

Reference numeral 5017 is a cleaning blade.
Reference numeral 019 denotes a member that allows the blade 5017 to move in the front-rear direction, and these members are supported by the main body support plate 5018. Needless to say, a well-known cleaning blade can be applied to this example instead of this form. Reference numeral 5021 is a lever for starting suction for suction recovery, and a cam 502 that engages with the carriage 5014.
It moves along with the movement of 0, and the driving force from the driving motor is movement-controlled by a known transmission means such as clutch switching.

That is, by rotating the drive motor 5013 in the reverse direction from the home position of the carriage 5014, the power transmission gear 5011 is switched to 5010 (not shown), and the drive force from the drive motor 5013 is applied to the cam 5020.
Is transmitted to the lever 5021 via the recording head 5012.
It is designed for capping, cleaning, and suction recovery.

FIG. 13 shows the detailed layout of the memory map on the RAM on the host side in FIG. The RAM has addresses 0000h to A0000h as standard areas and 100000h to FE0000h as extended areas, each of which has 6 areas.
The area has a size of 40 KB and 15 MB. RAM
Are memory-mapped to be arranged in these areas.

Head portion 00000h of the standard area of RAM
At ˜000400h, there is an area for storing the vector for interrupt, and the entry address of each processing for the interrupt is stored in this area.

Video RAM area of FIG. 13 and video B
The IOS ROM area is arranged in the VGAC of FIG. 2, the video BIOS ROM area holds a program for video control, and the video RAM area holds video display data.

The area from C8000h to E0000h is an expansion ROM area, which is a ROM area used by an expansion board or the like.

Areas from F0000h to 10000h are arranged in the ROM BIOS and hold a BIOS program for performing various I / O processing.

FIG. 14 shows an address map of each I / O. Data is exchanged with each piece of hardware by reading and writing data to the address port set in the piece of hardware. Taking a keyboard as an example, data is exchanged with a keyboard controller through a port arranged at an address of 60h to 64h, and by reading out a data receiving port, data from the keyboard can be received. .

The same applies to other addresses.

The parallel centronics 1 to 3 indicate the interface area.
As shown in FIG. 11, the I / O space is common to the printer interface area.

FIGS. 15 and 16 are diagrams showing in detail the contents of the interrupt vector shown in FIG. 13, in which hardware interrupts are assigned from Oh to Fh and software interrupts from 10h are assigned to interrupts.

The program of the address registered in each entry is executed for each interrupt. Each entry has a ROM BIOS program or RAM
An address to a program inside is set, each process is executed at the time of hardware interrupt and software interrupt, and each process is performed.

Each processing after turning on the power source of the main body will be described below.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart when the power is turned on.
First, the process proceeds to step S1. The soft reset process by the keyboard also comes to step S1 similarly to when the power is turned on. In step S1, the POST processing is performed and the POS
The T process is power on self-test, and tests and initializes each hardware. Next, in step S2, a boot program for loading the system program is loaded. The boot program is stored in an FD (floppy disk) or HD (hard disk), and is arranged in, for example, track 0 and sector 0. The boot program is loaded by reading track 0 and sector 0 in the memory. Steps S1 to S2 exist in the ROM BIOS. Next, in step S3, the loaded boot program is executed. The boot program is F
This is a program for loading a program for loading an OS program from D or HD. Next, in step S4, the OS loading program is loaded. Next, in step S5, the OS load program is executed. The OS load program is a program for loading the OS into the memory, and first loads the I / O driver in step S6. I / O driver means I / O
This is a program for controlling O, and the I / O driver causes the OS to exchange data with various I / Os.
Next, in step S7, I / O test and initialization are performed. Next, in step S8, the OS is loaded into the memory. When the OS is ready to be executed in the steps so far, the process proceeds to step S9, and the OS is executed. The OS processes the input from the keyboard, displays various messages on the display, and interacts with the operator. The OS executes various command processes according to the input of various commands by the operator.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart for explaining the POST of S1 of FIG. 17 in detail, and the CPU (FPU numerical arithmetic processor of FIG. 2) is tested (step S1).
0). Next, a ROM test is performed (step S1).
1). Next, the power source and the battery are checked (step S12). Next, the LCD and LCD adapter are tested and initialized. The LCD adapter includes RAM and ROM, and checks them (step S13). Next, the interrupt controller is tested and initialized (step S14). Next, the timer is tested (step S15). Next, the DMA controller is tested (step S16). Next, the keyboard and keyboard controller are tested (step S17). Next, the serial / parallel port is tested and initialized (step S18). Next, it is checked whether it is a soft reset (step S19). If it is a soft reset, the RAM test and the initialization process in step S20 are skipped and the process proceeds to step S21. If it is not a soft reset, the process proceeds to step S20 to test and initialize the RAM. Next, the FD test is performed (step S21). Next HD
Is tested (step S22). Next, the real-time clock is tested (step S23). Then test the printer. In the printer test, various printer ports and printer connections are checked (step S24). Next, the LED test is performed (step S25). Then return. With the above processing, the POST processing shown in S1 of FIG. 17 is performed, and if there is an error or the like in each device, they are notified.

Next, the keyboard interrupt processing and the key code acquisition processing will be described. In the keyboard interrupt process, an interrupt is generated from the keyboard controller in response to a key press on the keyboard, the interrupt controller processes the interrupt, and the keyboard interrupt process is executed. In the key code acquisition process, the key code saved by the keyboard interrupt is retrieved from the key buffer, and the key code is returned to the required process. The key buffer is provided in the B10S common area in FIG. The keyboard interrupt process is assigned to the hardware interrupt entry 09h shown in FIG. 15, and the key code acquisition process is assigned to the software interrupt entry 16h shown in FIG. Each is executed by calling an interrupt or software interrupt from the keyboard.

FIG. 19 is a flow chart showing the processing when a keyboard interrupt occurs. In the figure, when a keyboard interrupt occurs, the key scan code is read from the port assigned to the I / O keyboard in S30. The read code is S31
In step S32, it is determined whether or not the code corresponds to the soft reset. If Yes, the print buffer clear command transmission is executed in S32, and after execution, the actual soft reset operation is started. If the read code is not a soft reset, it is confirmed in S33 whether the keyboard buffer is full. If it is full, a beep sound is generated in S34 for a warning, and the process ends. If it is not full, the key scan code is converted into a key code corresponding to the character code in S35, and the converted key code is set in the key buffer in S36, and the process is ended.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart relating to the key code acquisition process.

In the figure, when the key code acquisition is started, it is first checked in S40 whether or not there is a key code in the keyboard buffer. If not, S40 is repeated until the key code is stored in the keyboard buffer. If the key code is present, it is checked in S41 whether or not the key code needs to be converted, and if it is necessary, the key code is converted in S42 (the key code conversion mainly occurs when the keyboard is different for each country). Yes.).

When it is not necessary to convert the key code, or after the conversion is performed in step S42 if necessary, the key code is set in the keyboard buffer in step S43, and the process is terminated.

As described above, the buffer clear command is transmitted to the printer when the soft reset is executed in the keyboard interrupt process, and the buffer clear process of the printer is performed.

Next, the case where the country switching command is executed will be described. The OS executes the following country switching processing according to the specification of the country switching command from the operator.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a flow of a command analysis process for inputting a key from the host.

When the command analysis processing is executed, S50
In step S51, the operator receives a command input from a keyboard or the like, and it is checked in step S51 whether the command received is a country switching command. YE
If it is S, the country switching print command transmission process is executed in S52, and the command input is waited again.

If NO, it is checked in S53 if it is another command. If YES, the corresponding process is executed in S54 and the command input is waited again.

Similar processing is expanded in S53 to S54 by the number of necessary commands, but detailed description will not be given here.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing the flow of the country switching print command transmission processing on the host side in S52 of FIG.

When the country switching print command transmission process is executed, the current country mode setting on the host side is changed to the desired country mode setting in accordance with the command sent in S60. The information is stored in the RAM shown in FIG. When the change is completed, in S61, the country switch print command is transmitted to perform the same country switch to the peripheral device, and the process ends.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a flow of the country switching print command transmission processing in S61 of FIG.

When the country switching print command transmission process is executed, the country mode changed based on the country information stored in the RAM on the main body (host) side of FIG. 2 is checked in S70, and it is transmitted to the printer side. , Corresponding country No. To decide.

In S71, the determined country number. In order to switch the printer to the country corresponding to the above, the country switching print command is transmitted and the processing is terminated.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a flow in the case of performing the country switching print command transmission process of S61 of FIG. 22 by emulation.

When the country switching print command transmission process is executed, the changed country information stored in the RAM of the main body (host) side in FIG. 2 is checked in S80, and the corresponding emulation number. To decide. The emulation No. Are stored in the RAM of FIG. 2 in a table format corresponding to country information.

In S81, an emulation switching print command is transmitted to the printer side in order to switch the printer to the decided emulation, and the process is ended.

As described above, by issuing the country switch command, it is possible to switch the country mode of the host and simultaneously switch the country of the printer side or the emulation switch of the printer side. The control on the printer side will be described later with reference to FIG.

Next, the printer side will be described.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing details of the read / write memory represented by the RAM # 2 shown in FIG. 3 and including a buffer, a flag and the like. In the figure, a reception buffer is a buffer for receiving print commands and print data transferred from the main body to the printer, and holds data input to the input port of the printer. This is explained in FIG. The print data area is a data area including flags and registers necessary for printing, and printing is performed using the value held in this area, for example, margin information. The emulation data area is a data area containing flags, registers, and emulation information necessary for emulation, and the emulation processing uses the value held in this area to perform emulation. Further, the contents of this emulation data area are shown in detail in FIG. The work buffer is a work area that is temporarily used for printing and emulation, and is used for work such as data processing and modification. The print buffers 1 to 3 are areas for holding data to be printed, print image data created by emulation is stored, and the data held in the print buffer is transferred to the printing unit to execute printing. One of the buffers 1 to 3 for printing can store data of a size necessary for one printing, and in this embodiment, it has three buffers 1 to 3. Multiple print buffers are provided so that the print image can be expanded to another buffer while one print buffer is actually printed. Data expansion to the print buffer and printing are parallel. You can do it. The download font buffer is a font buffer area that is used to print fonts other than the font data in the printer by transferring font data from the printer. When fonts are transferred to this download font, , Printing is performed with the font held in this area.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing the details of the emulation data area, and emulation flag EMFLA.
G holds the emulation number. EMFL
AG uses two bits B0 and B1 to indicate the corresponding NO of emulation. B0 and B1 can have values from 0 to 3, with 0 indicating emulation 1, 1 indicating emulation 2 and 2 indicating emulation 3. In this embodiment, the emulations 1 to 3 are supported, and each emulation corresponds to the value registered in the emulation flag EMFLAG. EMFL
AG is the emulation number specified when the emulation switch command is executed. Is set. The country flag CNTFLAG is a buffer that holds a country code, and is a 4-bit bit of B0 to B3. Is held. B0 to B3 can take values from 0 to 15, and with this value, the country's No. Can be represented. In this embodiment, two countries, Japan and USA, are used. Therefore, if the value is 0, the value is USA, and if the value is 1, the value is Japan. It is possible to have individual values for other countries. According to the country setting command, the country No. Is set.
The emulation information 1 to 3 are areas for holding the emulation information held by each emulation, and B0
The area is represented by 24 bits of B23 to B23. B0
Each bit of B23 to B23 is used for designating information necessary for each emulation, for example, character quality and page length. In addition, values that are initial values used for each emulation are held, and these information can be set and changed by setting and changing commands for each information, and the information corresponding to the currently executed emulation is rewritten. In this embodiment, description of the contents of each bit is omitted, but necessary emulation information can be held. The emulation information 1 to 3 have the same format,
The settings for the bit contents can be specified for each emulation.

FIG. 27 shows a specific example of emulation information. In this example, B0 to B2 bits are used to give each bit a function of character quality, reduced character, and character code, and each bit represents 0 or 1 to indicate the setting of each function in each emulation. Each emulation can have a similar format or a separate format. It is also possible to perform classification so as to have several values by using multiple bits.

As described above, each emulation is executed according to the value held in the emulation data area.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a table for emulation execution, which is held in ROM # 2 (on the printer side) in FIG. The emulation selection table includes a pointer that points to each emulation control table and corresponds to each of the tables 1 to 3.
The emulation control tables 1 to 3 are management tables of each emulation of emulations 1 to 3 and correspond to each emulation. The emulation initial information 1 to 3 is a table holding the initial value of each emulation information and has the initial value corresponding to each emulation. This initial value is used as an initial value when a command is specified and when information is not set.
Is a value to be set in the areas of emulation information 1 to 3 of. The emulation programs 1 to 3 hold programs for each emulation, and any one of the emulation programs 1 to 3 is executed when each emulation is executed.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing the configuration of the tables shown in FIG. 28, where .fwdarw. Indicates a pointer and holds its address. The emulation selection table has pointers to the emulation control tables a to c. The emulation control table has emulation IDs and EMIDs, which are identifiers of emulations corresponding to each emulation, and have individual values for each emulation. The emulation name is a character example showing the name of the emulation and can be used when you want to know the name of the emulation. The initial information pointer is a pointer that points to a table containing the initial value of the emulation initial information, and points to the table of each initial information in each emulation. The information pointer is a pointer that points to the emulation information shown in FIG. 26. The information pointer indicates the current emulation information, and emulation is executed based on the data existing at the end of this pointer. The program pointer is a pointer that points to an emulation program and indicates a program executed by each emulation. This pointer is used as the address of each program when switching each emulation.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing the initial values set in the emulation initial information of FIG. 29 in the ROM # 2 of FIG. 3, and this diagram corresponds to the emulation information of FIG. 26. And the initial value in the case of. In the case of this emulation, high-quality, normal, and katakana settings are initial values, and the contents of this table are initial values of emulation information.

As described above, actual emulation switching management is performed using the emulation execution table.

FIG. 31 is a flow chart showing the initialization control of the printer unit 3. There are three items for initialization. First, the carriage 5014 is initialized (S101). Carriage initialization means carriage 50
14 is moved, the presence of the carriage 5014 is confirmed by the photocouplers 5007 and 5008, and the carriage 5014
Is to be placed in the home position. Details are shown in FIG. 32.

Next, capping is performed (S102).
What is capping is the cap member 5022 and the recording head 5.
012 is an operation for capping the front surface of the recording head 5
It serves to prevent the 012 from drying out. Recording head 50
12 must be capped by the cap member 5022 except during printing. Details of the capping operation are shown in FIG.

Finally, paper feed initialization is performed (S10).
3). Paper feed initialization is initialization of the paper feed motor 5024, and is performed to determine the print line position. It will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a detailed flow of carriage initialization. This is control by the CPU # 2 in FIG. The lever 5006 attached to the carriage 5014 crosses the photocouplers 5007 and 5008 (HP sensor) (HP sensor On) to detect whether the carriage 5014 is in the home position side area, and the HP sensor changes from off to On. The position that has been set is the home position (HP) of the carrier.

First, in S201, it is determined whether the carriage 5014 is already in the home position side area. If it is already in the home position side area, the process proceeds to S202, and the drive motor 5013 is rotated by 45 pulses in the forward direction (the carriage 5014 is moved by 45 pulses in the right direction) to move the carriage 5014 to the outside of the home position side area.
If the HP sensor is not On in S201, S203 and S2
In step 04, the drive motor 5013 is rotated in the reverse direction by one pulse (the carriage 5014 is moved in the left direction by one pulse), and the carriage 5014 is moved to the home position side area. In S205 and S206, the carriage 501 is turned on again until the HP sensor turns off.
4 is moved to the right by one pulse at a time, and further moved to the right by 20 pulses in S207. And S208,
In step S209, the carriage 5014 is moved to the left by one pulse, and when the HP sensor is turned off, the carriage 5014 is stopped and the initialization is completed.

FIG. 33 is a detailed flow of capping. By rotating the drive motor 5013 from the home position of the carriage 5014 in the opposite direction, the power transmission gear is switched, and the lever 502 is moved via the cam 5020.
Move 1 In order to move the lever 5021 to the capping position, the following three controls (S301 to S303) are required as a capping flow. First, when the carriage 5014 is at the home position, the drive motor 5013 is rotated in the reverse direction by 34 steps to switch the drive transmission gears 5010 and 5011 (S301). Then, the cap member 50 is further rotated in the opposite direction by 11 steps.
22 from the recording head 5012 once (S30
2) Further, the cap member 5022 is pressed against the surface of the recording head 5012 by rotating in the opposite direction by 45 steps,
Capping is completed (S303).

Next, the emulation processing on the printer side will be described. The printer has three emulation processes and can switch each program.

FIG. 34 is a flow chart showing the printing process of this embodiment. First, the initialization process is performed in step S400. In the initialization processing, processing such as clearing the print buffer is performed. Next, in step S401, emulation selection processing is performed. Details of this selection processing are shown in FIG. Any one of the emulations 1 to 3 is selected by the selection processing in step S401, and is executed. One of the three emulations of steps S402 to S404 is performed. Since each emulation moves so that a series of operations is completed within each emulation, each emulation ends when the emulation switching command is executed,
The flow proceeds to emulation selection processing step S401. Repeat the above.

FIG. 35 is a flow chart showing the details of step S401 in FIG. 34. First, in step S410, the emulation No. set in the emulation flag EMFLAG shown in FIG. Take out. The emulation flag EMFLAG is shown in FIG. Is set. Next, the process proceeds to step S411, and the emulation No. of the emulation flag EMFLAG. Select the corresponding emulation control table from the emulation selection table corresponding to. The pointer of the emulation program is fetched from the selected emulation control table. Next, the process proceeds to step S412, the process branches to the end of the program address fetched in step S411, and execution of each emulation program starts. Through the above processing, emulation selection processing is executed and emulation is selected.

FIG. 36 shows steps S402 to S402 of FIG.
It is a flowchart for explaining the emulation shown in 404 in detail, and shows a part common to each emulation. First, in step S420, initialization processing is executed. The initialization process executes initialization of the data area required for each emulation. Next, in step S421, a print command is received from the sent print command and print data. As the print data, the data sent from the main body is once stored in the reception buffer, and the data is taken out from the reception buffer. If there is no received data, it waits for received data. Next in step S42
Proceed to step 2 and check whether it is an emulation switching command. If it is an emulation switching command, the flow advances to step S423 to execute emulation switching processing. FIG. 37 shows a detailed flowchart of the emulation switching process. Then return.
If it is not an emulation switching command, the flow advances to step S424 to check whether it is a country setting command. If it is a country setting command, the process proceeds to step S425,
Perform country setting processing. The detailed country setting process is shown in FIG. 38. After execution, returns to command reception. If it is not a country setting command, it is processed by another command. Next, it is checked whether it is a buffer clear command. If it is a buffer clear command, the process advances to step S427 to execute a buffer clear process. After executing the buffer clearing process, the process returns to the command receiving process.
If it is not a buffer clear command, check if it is a character quality setting command. If it is a character quality setting command, the flow advances to step S429 to execute character quality setting processing. Then, the process returns to the command receiving process. In the case of commands other than these, other commands are processed. Although the description of the processing of other commands is omitted, commonly used emulation commands can be executed. After the execution of each command, the process proceeds to step S421, and the above processing is repeatedly executed.

With the above processing, the emulation switching command and the country setting command can be executed during the emulation processing.

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing details of the emulation switching process. When a switching command is received,
To be executed. First, in step S430, the switching emulation No. Decide. Switching emulation No.
Is received in addition to the switch command. Next, the emulation No. received in step S431. Determine the emulation control table from. Next, it is checked whether the switching command is a command with initialization. The step S432 switching command includes two types of commands, one of which is with an initialization command and the other of which is without an initialization command. If it is an initialization command, the flow advances to step S433 to copy the initial information into the emulation information area. Then step S4
If it is not an initialization command, the process proceeds to step S43.
Go to 4. Next, in step S434, the emulation number EMFLAG that has been switched to the emulation flag EMFLAG. Are set in bits B0 to B1. Then return.

By the above processing, the emulation switching processing is executed and the preparation for the emulation switching can be made.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing the details of the country setting process, which is executed when the country setting command is received. First, in step S440, the country flag CNTFLAG is set to the country N.
o. Set. Then return. With the above processing, the country setting process is executed, and the country setting can be performed.

FIG. 39 is a diagram showing the details of the buffer clear processing, which is executed when the buffer clear command is received. First, in step S450, the buffer is cleared. The buffer includes buffers such as a print buffer that need to be initialized. By the above processing, the buffer clear processing can be performed.

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing details of the character quality switching process, which is executed when a character quality switching command is received. First, in step S460, the emulation No. set in the emulation flag EMFLAG. Take out. Next, this emulation N
o. Determines the address of the emulation control table registered in the emulation selection table. Next, in step S461, the address registered in the information pointer in the control table determined in step S460 is taken out. There is emulation information at the destination pointed to by this address, and this emulation information is held in RAM # 2. Next, in step S462, it is checked whether or not high quality is set. This is performed by a value indicating whether the command is high definition or draft. When high definition is designated, the process proceeds to step S463, and the B0 bit of the emulation information is set to 0. If the B0 bit is set to 0,
It becomes a high-quality designation. If the high quality is not specified, the process proceeds to step S464, and the B0 bit of the emulation information is set to 1. When the B0 bit is set to 1, the draft is designated. FIG. 30 shows an example of emulation information. Then return. By the above processing, the execution processing of the character quality switching command is performed, and thereafter, the quality is selected based on the B0 bit of this emulation information and the printing is executed.

As described above, the emulation selection process of the printer is performed by the command, and the emulation can be switched. In addition, the country setting command enables the country setting process. Also, a buffer clear command enables buffer clear processing. Further, the character quality switching process can be performed by the character quality command.

[Embodiment 2] In this embodiment, the emulation switching means is provided on the printer side, but the emulation switching means may be provided on the host side.

[Third Embodiment] In the present embodiment, the emulation setting information memory means is provided on the printer side, but it may be provided on the host side to instruct the printer side.

[0101]

As described above, the initial setting information of a plurality of types of emulation means is stored, and when the emulation is switched, the initial setting information corresponding to the switched emulation is set in the emulation setting information memory. There is an effect that a plurality of emulations can be quickly switched and used without increasing the cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a personal computer embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram between Host and Printer.

FIG. 3 is a printer block diagram.

FIG. 4 is an electrical configuration diagram of a recording head and a head driver.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of head driving.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a carriage motor and a driver.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a drive timing of the motor.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a printer controller.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a printer I / O register.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an address map of a RAM of the printer.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an I / O register between a host and a printer.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a printer internal unit.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a memory map of a RAM of a host.

FIG. 14 is an address map of each IO.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the contents of an interrupt vector.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the contents of an interrupt vector.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a flowchart when the power is turned on.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a flowchart of POST.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a flowchart of keyboard interrupt processing.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a flowchart of a key code acquisition process.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a flowchart of command analysis processing.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a flowchart of host country switching processing.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a flowchart of printer country switching processing.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a flowchart of printer country switching processing.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing details of RAM in the printer.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing details of emulation data.

FIG. 27 is a diagram showing a specific example of emulation information.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a table for executing emulation.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a configuration of a table for executing emulation.

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing initial values of emulation initial information.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a flowchart showing initialization control of the printer unit.

FIG. 32 is a view showing a flowchart showing details of carriage initialization.

FIG. 33 is a diagram showing a detailed flow of capping.

FIG. 34 is a view showing a flowchart showing a printing process.

FIG. 35 is a diagram showing a flowchart of emulation selection processing.

FIG. 36 is a diagram showing a flowchart showing details of emulation.

FIG. 37 is a diagram showing a flowchart showing details of emulation switching processing.

FIG. 38 is a diagram showing a flowchart showing details of country setting processing.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart showing details of buffer clear processing.

FIG. 40 is a diagram showing a flow showing details of character quality switching processing.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Naohisa Suzuki             Kyano, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Within the corporation (72) Inventor Jiro Tateyama             Kyano, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Within the corporation (72) Inventor Masaki Nishiyama             Kyano, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Within the corporation (72) Inventor Susumu Takase             Kyano, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Within the corporation

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A first storage means for storing initial setting information of emulation information, a second storage means for storing emulation information, and when the emulation on the printer side is switched in response to an emulation switching instruction from the host side, An information processing apparatus comprising: a transfer unit configured to transfer the initial setting information of the emulation information stored in the first storage unit to the second storage unit. 2. An information processing method, wherein initial setting information of emulation information is transferred when the emulation on the printer side is switched according to an emulation switching instruction from the host side. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus includes a host unit and a printer unit, which are connected via a parallel interface. 4. The information processing method according to claim 2, wherein the host side and the printer side are connected via a parallel interface. 5. The information processing method, wherein the printer causes a volume change by the action of thermal energy to eject ink from an ejection port.