JPH06309122A - Output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply a command to request corresponding processing from a host device side by collating the content of a command stored in a first storage means with an operating content stored in a second storage means, and notifying the result of collation. CONSTITUTION:This device is equipped with the first storage means 4 which stores the content of the command inputted from a host device 1, the second storage means 7-9 which store the operating content targeted for collation with the content of the command, a means (CPU) 5 which collates the content of the command stored in the first storage means 4 with the operating contents stored in the second storage means 7-9, and a means 3 which supplies a signal to notify the result of collation to the host device 1. When the command is inputted from the host device 1, the content of the command is stored in the first storage means 1 once, and it is judged whether or not it is a prescribed one to perform display and recording, and after it is collated with the operating contents in the second storage means 7-9, the result of collation is sent to the host device 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an output device, and more particularly to an output device for displaying or recording corresponding data by receiving a predetermined command from a host device externally connected via an interface. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a display device, a recording device, and the like have been known as output devices for performing operations related to data display and recording. These output devices have a function to identify the data and command sent from the host device, and change the operation mode according to the determination, and output control related to recording and display. Is configured to perform an operation.

[0003]

However, the interface for connecting the output device and the host device of the upper rank is
If the host device has a data transfer function in only one direction from the host device to the output device, it is difficult to transfer detailed internal information such as the operation mode of the output device to the host device. In particular, if the output device changes the operating mode etc. independently of the command from the host device, the information on the changed mode cannot be confirmed on the host device side and the It was not possible to perform detailed control such as changing the command output from the host device side.

An object of the present invention is to send a command requesting a corresponding action from the host device side by making it possible to transmit information related to the operating mode to the host device side in order to solve the above conventional problems. It is to provide an output device that enables the above.

[0005]

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has means for inputting a command from a host device of a higher level connected through an interface section,
In an output device capable of displaying and / or recording data according to a predetermined command input from the host device, first storage means for storing the content of the command input from the host device, and the content of the command Second storage means for storing the operation content to be verified, and means for verifying the content of the command stored in the first storage means with the operation content stored in the second storage means, And a means for sending a signal notifying the host device whether or not the collation is possible.

[0006]

According to the present invention, when a command is input from the host device, the content of the command is temporarily stored in the first storage means, and after it is determined whether the command is a predetermined command for displaying or recording, the first command is displayed. 2 The content of the operation stored in the storage means is collated by the collating means, and whether or not the collation is possible is sent to the host device as a signal, whereby the internal information such as the operating state of the output device is transferred to the higher order. This can be easily confirmed on the host device side.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of a recording apparatus for recording on a recording material as an example of the output apparatus of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is an upper host device, 2 is a recording device, and 3 is an interface unit for connecting the host device 1 and the recording device 2. 2 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the recording device 2. In FIG. 2, various commands sent from the host device 1 connected via the interface unit 3 to the recording device 2 are temporarily received. It is stored in the buffer memory 4. On the other hand, the microprocessor type CPU 5 analyzes the command in the reception buffer memory 4 according to the control program stored in the program memory 6, and the ROM type data memory 7, the RAM type work memory 8 and the non-volatile memory 9 and the like. After expanding the recorded character buffer 10 while referring to
The recording mechanism 11 is controlled to record characters, symbols, etc. on the recording machine.

The operation panel 12 shown in FIG. 3 is provided on the outer surface of the recording apparatus 2, and the CPU 5 constantly monitors the operation of the mode designating switches 13 and 14 provided on the operation panel 12. The data memory 7, the work memory 8, the non-volatile memory 9 and the like are appropriately referred to according to these selective operations, the operation mode is changed according to the designation, and the recording mechanism 11 is controlled to control the host device 1. It is possible to output test prints independently without using a command from.

FIG. 4 shows the details of the signal lines in the interface section 3 connecting the recording apparatus 2 and the external host apparatus 1. The interface unit 3 includes a DATA signal line group 15 for receiving various commands from the host device 1, and a BUSY signal line indicating whether or not a command can be received from the host device 1 side to the recording device 2 by a binary signal. 16 is provided with a STATUS signal line 17 which indicates by binary signals whether or not the recording device 2 is operating normally.

The processing procedure of the CPU 5 in the recording device 2 which is the output device of this embodiment will be described in detail below.

The processing procedure shown below is stored in advance in the program memory 6 shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 5 is a memory map showing a breakdown of information and data stored in each address of the work memory 8 in the recording device 2. That is, the address 0 of the work memory 8 has a recording mode W indicating whether the recording is performed in the vertical writing mode or the horizontal writing mode, the address 1 indicates the number of lateral characters X when recording on the recording material, and the address 2 indicates Vertical number of characters Y
Are stored respectively. Therefore, the CPU 5 causes the recording mechanism 11 to perform recording under the control corresponding to the command sent from the host device 1 based on the information and data in the work memory 8.

Next, the processing procedure of the CPU 5 when the switch 13 or 14 of the operation panel 12 is pressed will be described with reference to FIG.

First, when one of the switches is pressed,
In step S1, it is determined whether or not the switch pressed is the vertical writing mode designating switch 13, and if affirmative, 0 is written in the recording mode W of the work memory 8 in step S2 to indicate the vertical writing mode designation. If a negative determination is made in step S1, the process proceeds to step S3 to determine whether or not the pushed switch is the horizontal writing mode designating switch 14. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S4 to save the work memory 8 data. 1 is written in the recording mode W to indicate the horizontal writing mode.

FIG. 7 shows the reception buffer memory 4 of this embodiment.
Shows the command list stored in. Where ESC
A is a command for requesting collation with memory information. In the case of this command, address n and data m are specified in the work memory 8 shown in FIG. All commands other than the memory information collation command are regarded as character data.

Next, the processing procedure of the CPU 5 when a command is received will be described with reference to FIG.

Upon receiving a command from the host device 1, the CPU 5 first sets the BUSY signal line 16 of the interface unit 3 shown in FIG. 4 to 1 in step S11, and then determines whether the command received in step S12 is a memory information collation command. Determine whether or not. Then, when it is determined that the received command is the memory information collation command, the process proceeds to step S13, and the address n of the designated work memory 8 is entered.
Is referred to, and it is determined whether the content data and the data m designated by the command match. If the results match, the STATUS signal line 17 of the interface 3 is set to 1 in step S14, and then the process proceeds to step S17 to set the BUSY signal line 16 to 0 to enable recording. If the results do not match, the process branches to step S16 to set the STATUS signal line 17 to 0, and then to step S17 to set the BUSY signal line 16 to 0.
To If the received command is not the memory information collation command in step S12, it is regarded as character data, and the recording mode W stored in the addresses 0 to 2 of the work memory 8 in step S15,
According to the number of characters in the horizontal direction X and the number of characters in the vertical direction Y, the recorded characters and the like are expanded to appropriate addresses in the recorded character buffer 10 (see FIG. 2), and the BUSY signal is set to 0 in step S17 to enable recording.

On the side of the host device 1 which sends the command,
As described above, the internal information on the recording device 2 side can be known by appropriately transmitting the memory information collation command. For example, when it is desired to change the recording data depending on whether the recording mode of the recording apparatus 2 is vertical writing or horizontal writing, the host apparatus 1 side can realize the processing procedure as shown in FIG.

That is, before sending recording data from the host device 1, first, a memory information collation command is issued, and in step S1, address n = 0 and data m =
Send as 0. This is a command for inquiring whether the recording mode W is the vertical writing designation. After sending this memory information collation command, it waits for the BUSY signal line 16 to change from 1 to 0 in step S2, and in step S23 the STATUS signal line 17 is 1 or 0.
To judge. Here, when the STATUS signal line 17 is 1, it means that the verification that the recording mode W is 0, that is, the vertical writing mode has been obtained, so step S24
Then, the recording data for the vertical writing mode is sent from the host device 1. If the STATUS signal line 17 is 0, it means that the recording mode W is not 0, that is, the horizontal writing mode. Therefore, in step S25, the host device 1 sends the recording data for the horizontal writing mode.

Although not described in detail, by sending the memory information collating command to the address 1 or 2 in the same manner, the number of characters in the horizontal and vertical directions can be known by the host device 1.

Thus, according to the present invention, the recording device 2
Since the internal information of the host device 1 can be known on the host device 1 side, the data output from the host device 1 can be changed according to the result.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 10 shows a command list according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the above-described first embodiment, the memory contents stored in one address was collated by one memory information collation command. However, as shown in FIG. 10, the address n, the data length l, and the data string m1 are compared. ~ M
By specifying 1 at a time, it is also possible to collate the contents of a plurality of addresses at the same time.

(Third Embodiment) In the first embodiment, the recording mode W is changed by detecting the depression of either the vertical writing mode designating switch 13 or the horizontal writing mode designating switch 14 of the operation panel 12. However, such a change may be performed by sending a separately set command from the host device 1 side, or the control program as described above may be stored in the program memory 6,
It can also be changed automatically.

(Fourth Embodiment) Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the collation of information is performed on the information and data stored in the work memory 8, but the contents of the data memory 7 and the non-volatile memory 9 are changed. It is also possible to apply the present invention to the same. Furthermore, the control program according to the present invention stored in the program memory 6 can be used to notify the host device 1 of a higher rank of the version number of the control program of the recording device 2.

Also, when the operation mode and the like of the recording apparatus 2 are set by constants or the like determined by an electric circuit such as a DIP switch or jumper switch, the setting contents can be set by the host apparatus 1 if the present invention is applied. It is possible to inform

(Embodiment 5) In the first embodiment, whether the matching result is acceptable or not is determined by the STATUS signal line 1 of the interface unit 3.
Although it was made to notify the host device 1 side directly by 7,
If it is difficult due to the standard of the interface section 3, the user may be notified directly by using a display function or the like provided on the operation panel 12 or the like. This is effective, for example, when it is desired to confirm whether or not the operating state of the output device is the desired one.

For example, when various setting conditions such as operation modes are stored in the non-volatile memory 9 and it is desired to change the setting conditions depending on the destination, the information stored in the non-volatile memory 9 in the manufacturing process is stored. It is necessary to confirm whether the setting is correct for each destination. Conventionally, in such a case, for example, a method of printing a list of setting conditions in the case of a print recording device and a function of displaying a list on a screen in the case of a display device have been adopted. , It is time-consuming to check each and every item of various setting conditions, which leads to a decrease in the efficiency of the manufacturing process. However, in such a case, according to the present invention, after the information collating command is sent through the interface unit 3, it is only necessary to confirm the pass / fail status displayed on the display device or the like, so that the setting conditions can be efficiently confirmed. You can Of course, the interface unit 3 as in the first embodiment
Needless to say, if a means for directly sending the acceptance / rejection to the host device 1 side is provided via, it is possible to automate the inspection process itself of the setting conditions, which is even more effective.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
First storage means for storing the content of the command input from the host device, second storage means for storing the operation content that is the target for collating the content of the command, and the first storage means.
Since the means for collating the content of the command stored in the storage means with the operation content stored in the second storage means and the means for sending a signal notifying the host device whether or not the collation is possible are provided. It has become possible to know the internal information of the output device from the host device side, and it is possible to allow the host device side to take action corresponding to the internal information.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a recording apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an operation panel attached to the outer surface of the recording apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of an interface unit that connects the recording apparatus according to the present invention to a host apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a memory map showing a breakdown of information stored in a work memory according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the operation panel according to the present invention is operated.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a command list according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when a command according to the present invention is received.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure on the host device side according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a command list according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Host device (host device) 2 Recording device 3 Interface part 4 Reception buffer memory 5 CPU 6 Program memory 7 Data memory 8 Work memory 9 Non-volatile memory 10 Recording character buffer 11 Recording mechanism 12 Operation panel 13, 14 Mode switch 15 Data signal Line group 16 BUSY signal line 17 STATUS signal line

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A means for inputting a command from an upper host device connected via an interface unit, and data can be displayed and / or recorded according to a predetermined command input from the host device. In the output device, first storage means for storing the content of the command input from the host device, second storage means for storing the operation content that is the target for collating the content of the command, and the first storage And a means for collating the content of the command stored in the means with the operation content stored in the second storage means, and means for sending a signal notifying the host device whether or not the collation is possible. And output device. 2. The output device according to claim 1, wherein a signal notifying the host device of whether the collation is possible is sent via the interface unit. 3. The output according to claim 1, wherein the second storage means for storing a reference operation content for collating the content of the command input from the host device is a non-volatile memory. apparatus.