JPH0632008A - Document printer control - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] When printing multiple character strings on one line, align each character string with the specified center position. At this time, the "proportional alphabet" in which the length of each character (length direction of the character string) is not constant can be aligned. [Structure] Referring to the character length table that registers the horizontal length of each character font, find the length on the printing surface of each character string that should be printed on one line, and then check the printing surface of each character string. Based on the length of the character string and the distance from the left end of the printable area of the printing device to the center position of each print, the column shift to the print start position of each character string is controlled.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character printing device, and more particularly to a document print control device for printing a character string of indefinite length for making labels such as names and addresses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Biku is used for printing names, addresses, etc. on labels. Biku is a paper in which a paste is applied to the back surface of the label paper, a release paper serving as a backing paper is piled up, and only the label paper is punched from the front surface into a predetermined shape. FIG. 2 shows an example of 4 rows × 3 columns. In this example, 12 label sheets are set on one sheet.

Conventionally, when printing a name, address, etc. on such a page, each character is printed at a fixed digit pitch and up to the number of digits obtained by dividing the maximum allowable length of each character string by the pitch. Was limited to printing. In addition, the number of characters in the character string (which is equal to the number of digits in this case) was used to match the center of the character string.

[0004]

However, the width of the typeface (horizontal direction) of the English characters is not uniform, and if the English labels are printed at the conventional fixed digit pitch as described above, the characters will be Character spacing becomes uneven, making it very unsightly. In other words, in English characters, the width of the typeface varies widely, and the difference between the fixed digit pitch width and the width of each typeface is the distance between the characters. There was a problem that was not obtained.

There is also a proportional printing method in which a character such as an English character whose width of a typeface is not constant is shifted and printed according to the width of the typeface of the character.
However, since the length of the character string to be printed varies depending on the content of the character string, there is a problem that the proportional printing method cannot be used for printing such as label printing that requires center alignment.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and even if the width of the typeface of a character varies greatly like English characters, the spacing between adjacent characters becomes almost constant. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document printing control device capable of printing by aligning the center of a character string with the center of a character as shown in FIG. 2 by the proportional printing method.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a storage means for storing a character string or a document with a character code, a means for reading a character generator with the character code to obtain a character font corresponding to the character code, and the character In a word processor having a print control means for performing printing based on fonts, a character length table in which the length in the print direction of each character font is registered, and the length on the print surface of a plurality of character strings to be printed in one line are displayed. Based on the means for obtaining each by referring to the character length table, and the length on the printing surface of each of the obtained character strings and the distance from the left end of the printable area of the printing device to the center position of each print, respectively. And a means for controlling the shift of the character string up to the print start position.

Further, in the present invention, the means for controlling the shift of the character string to the print start position is specific to the print control means when performing the shift of the character string to the print start position. By instructing a character and inhibition of printing for the character, the length of the specific character in the printing direction can be used as the shift pitch.

Further, in the present invention, the means for controlling the digit shift to the print start position of the character string provides a plurality of distances required for the digit shift when performing the digit shift to the print start position of each character string. It is possible to perform the digit shift by dividing each by the digit shift pitch candidates of and selecting the digit shift pitch having the minimum remainder.

Further, in the present invention, it is possible to set the pitch ratio of each of the shift pitch candidates to be a prime number ratio.

[0011]

The present invention refers to the character length table in which the horizontal (printing direction) lengths of the respective character fonts printed by the proportional printing method are registered, and on the printing surface of each character string to be printed in one line. Find the length at. The print start position of each character string is obtained from the length of each character string on the printing surface and the distance from the left end of the printable area of the printing device to the center position of each print. Biproportional printing is performed from this printing start position, and a beautiful array of English characters is printed in the center of the label.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of a word processor to which the present invention is applied. Three kinds of memories are connected to the CPU 11. A program ROM 12, a character generator ROM 13, and a work storage RAM 14. The program ROM 12 stores programs such as document creation, editing, proofreading, display control, keyboard control, print control, and file memory control. The character generator ROM 13 stores character fonts corresponding to character codes. The ROM 12 and the ROM 13 can be configured by the same ROM. A character string or a document to be printed is created in the work storage RAM 14 by the program stored in the program ROM 12.

In FIG. 3, the display control device 15 to the DISK 23 are the same as a normal word processor and are not directly related to the operation of the present invention, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The character length table of the present invention is stored in a part of the character generator ROM 13. The character length table and its access will be described in detail later. A program as a means for obtaining the length of the character string on the printing surface with reference to the character length table is stored in the program ROM 12. A program as a means for controlling the shift of the character string to the print start position of the present invention is also stored in the program ROM 12.

Next, the layout of the character strings in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 1 shows a case where three different character strings are printed in one line, and the corresponding pages are arranged in three columns as shown in FIG. There is no particular limitation on the number of rows (the number of rows) in the vertical direction, and the sheets may be supplied by a roll-shaped mount. In FIG. 1, the left end of the printable area of the printing device is used as a reference for the coordinates in the column direction. The distances from this reference to the center position of each frame are D1, D2, and D3, respectively. It is assumed that the character string to be printed on BIKU 1 is character string 1, the character string to be printed on BIKU 2 is character string 2, and the character string to be printed on BIKU 3 is character string 3.

The length of each character string can be obtained by the method described later, and the values are set as T1, T2 and T3, respectively. X
1 indicates the distance from the reference to the start position of the character string 1, and X
2 indicates the distance from the end of the character string 1 to the start position of the character string 2, and X3 indicates the distance from the end of the character string 2 to the start position of the character string 3. S1 to S3 will be described in the next flow chart.

Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the first embodiment. The calculation formula is JIS-compliant FORTRAN
Grammar (divide by A / B, multiply by A * B, etc.)
It is written in. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a subroutine for calculating the length TI (I = 1, 2, 3) of the character string I (I = 1, 2, 3) quoted in FIG. FIG. 6 shows J
A part of the 8 unit code for IS Romaji / Katakana is shown. A character code representing one character consists of 1 byte (8 bits), and the upper 4 bits are shown in columns and the lower 4 bits are shown in rows.
FIG. 7 shows a character length table, the size of which is 256 words x 1
It is a byte. The character length table starts from an address represented by CLTH, and stores numerical values of the lengths (horizontal lengths) of the corresponding characters in the order of character codes.

Next, the operation of FIG. 4 will be described by following the steps of the flowchart. As a premise of the description, it is assumed that integer type declarations are made for N1, N2, and N3 in the source program. Therefore, in the execution program, N1, N2, and N3 are treated as integers, respectively, and fractions below the decimal point are truncated when N1, N2, and N3 are obtained by division. Now,
In the flowchart of FIG.
The subroutine for the calculation of the length T1 is called. (Step 110). Then, the subroutine for calculating the length T2 of the character string 2 is called. (Step 120). Next, the subroutine for calculating the length T3 of the character string 3 is called. (Step 130). These three subroutines are actually one and the same procedure, and the details of their contents are shown in the flowchart of FIG.

The entrance of the flowchart of FIG.
"Length TI calculation", and the value of I (1 to 3) that is the distinction of the character string when the subroutine is called
Is substituted. Next, the number of characters LI of the character string I is read (step 310). Next, the length T of the character string I
The area for storing I is cleared (step 32).
0). Next, the number of characters L read in step 310
I and 0 are compared (step 330). Step 33
At 0, if the number of characters LI is equal to 0 or is negative, the original program is directly returned (RETURN exit). Similarly, if the number of characters LI is positive in step 330, the process is continued and the process proceeds to the next step 340.

Next, the start address of the character string table is read from the memory and moved to a work area named CLTH (step 340). Next, the character code for one character is read from the character string I and moved to the work area named CD (step 350). Then CLTH and C
The character length corresponding to the one character is read from the address to which D is added, and the character length is moved to the work area named CL (step 360).

Next, the value of CL is added to the value of the length area TI and the result is stored again in TI (step 370). Next, the value of the character number area LI is decremented by 1 (step 380). After step 380, step 33 is performed again.
Return to 0. After repeating the loop for the number of characters LI read out in this way, LI becomes 0 and it is determined in step 330 that LI = 0, and the process returns to the original program. At this time, the length of the character string I is obtained in TI (I = 1, 2, 3).

Next, the program returning to the main routine obtains the distance D1 (see FIG. 1) from the reference of the printing surface to the center of the image 1 and the obtained T1 to X1.
N divided by 1 by shift pitch A and rounded down to the nearest whole number
1 is calculated, and the product S1 of N1 and the shift pitch A is calculated (step 140). This N1 becomes the number of digits required for digit shifting, and digit shifting is performed by N1 digits (step 150).

Here, S1 is the distance actually moved by the print head during this shift, and is used later. Then, proportional printing of the character string 1 is performed (step 160). In this way, beautiful proportional printing of the character string 1 is performed in such a manner that the center of the character string 1 coincides with the center of the character 1.

Next, the number N2 of digits to be shifted after printing the character string 1 is calculated (step 170). Then, N2 digits are shifted (step 180). Then, proportional printing of the character string 2 is performed (step 19).
0). Next, the number of digits N3 to be shifted after printing the character string 3
Is calculated (step 200). Then, N3 digits are shifted (step 210). Then, proportional printing of the character string 3 is performed (step 22).
0). According to the above sequence, beautiful proportional printing of the array is performed on the vik of one row and three columns such that the center of the character string printed on each vik matches the center of the vik.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 8 and 9. In this embodiment, P1 <is set as a plurality of shift pitch candidates.
Three shift pitches P1 and P in the relationship of P2 <P3
2, P3 prepare. Then, in the process of calculating the number of shifts, the shift pitch that minimizes the shift error is selected to perform the shift. The other conditions are the same as those in the first embodiment. FIG. 8 shows the first half of the flowchart, and FIG. 9 shows the second half.

According to FIG. 8, first the lengths T1, T2 and T3 of the respective character strings are calculated (steps 400-40).
6) Do. The subroutine called here is the same as the first embodiment shown in FIG. Next, the shift distance X1 to the beginning of the character string 1 and the remainders R1, R2 obtained by dividing this X1 by the respective shift pitches P1, P2, P3.
R3 is calculated (step 410). Here, the function AINT is a function for converting the argument into an integer. Then R
Select the smallest one among 1, R2, R3 (Step 4
30, 440, 450).

As a result, when R1 is the minimum, step 4
Control is transferred to 60. When R2 is the minimum, the control shifts to step 480. When R3 is the minimum, the control moves to step 500. Then the smallest remainder R chosen
Shift pitch PJ (J = 1, 2, 3) corresponding to J (J = 1, 2, 3)
= 1,2,3), the distance X1 required for shift is divided and the number after the decimal point is discarded to obtain N1, and the distance S1 actually shifted at this time is calculated for the next calculation (step 46).
0 or step 480 or step 500). Next, N1 digit shift is performed by the selected shift pitch PJ.
(J = 1, 2, 3) (steps 470, 4)
90, 510). Next, the character string 1 is proportionally printed (step 520).

Next, the distance X2 to be shifted after printing the character string 1 and this shifting pitch X2 are respectively shifted to pitches P1 and P.
Remainders R1, R2, R3 divided by 2, P3 are obtained (step 530).

Next, moving from FIG. 8 to FIG. 9, R1, R2,
Select the smallest of R3 (steps 540, 54)
5,550). This selection is made by the same procedure described in steps 430-450. Next, the distance X2 required for shift is divided by the shift pitch PJ corresponding to the selected RJ to obtain N2, and S2 for the next calculation is obtained (steps 560, 580, 600). Then N
Two digit shifts are performed at the shift pitch PJ (steps 570, 590, 610). Next, the character string 2 is proportionally printed (step 620).

Next, the distance X3 to be shifted after printing the character string 2 and this shifting pitch X3 are respectively shifted to pitches P1 and P.
Remainders R1, R2, R3 divided by 2, P3 are obtained (step 630). Then R with the smallest value as above
Select J (steps 640, 650, 660). Next, N3 is obtained by dividing the distance X3 required for shift by the shift pitch PJ corresponding to the selected RJ (step 67).
0,690,710). Then, N3 digit shifts are performed at the shift pitch PJ (steps 680, 70).
0,720). Finally, the character string 3 is proportionally printed (step 730), and the process ends.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to proportionally print a predetermined character string in such a manner that the center of the character string coincides with the center of the line, and a high quality label with a beautiful character arrangement can be obtained. Is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of character string positions according to an embodiment of a document print control apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a print medium used in the embodiment of the document print control apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a word processor in which an embodiment of the document print control apparatus of the present invention is incorporated.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a subroutine for calculating a length TI of a character string I common to the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a table showing an example of character codes.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a character length table.

FIG. 8 is the first half of the flowchart of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is the second half of the flowchart of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 mount 2 label

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A storage means for storing a character string or a document with a character code, a means for reading a character generator with the character code to obtain a character font corresponding to the character code, and a print control for performing printing based on the character font. In a word processor having a means, refer to the character length table in which the lengths in the printing direction of each character font are registered and the lengths on the printing surface of a plurality of character strings to be printed in one line, respectively. To the print start position of each character string based on the obtained length on the printing surface of each character string and the distance from the left end of the printable area of the printing device to the center position of each character string. And a means for controlling the shift of the document. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the means for controlling the shift of the character string to the print start position is specified to the print control means when the shift of the character string to the print start position is performed. The document printing control apparatus is characterized in that the length of a specific character in the printing direction is used as the shift pitch by instructing the character and the printing inhibition for the character. 3. The distance according to claim 1, wherein the means for controlling the digit shift to the print start position of the character string, when performing the digit shift to the print start position of each character string, determines the distance required for the digit shift. A document printing control apparatus, wherein each digit is divided by a plurality of digit-pitch candidates, and a digit-pitch having a minimum remainder is selected to perform digit-pitch. 4. The document print control apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the pitch ratio of each of the plurality of shift pitch candidates is set to be a prime number ratio.