JPH06324663A - Font cache backup mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To immediately obtain the effct of caching by returning and saving the contents of a cache buffer stored with font patterns which are already expanded and modiffied for ROM fonts and file fonts mounted on a personal computer linked with the start and end of an application program. CONSTITUTION:A cache buffer saving control part 8 batch-saves the contents of the cache buffer 3 for font patterns which are already expanded and modified into a cache buffer saving device 4 constituted of a disk device or a backup memory. A cache returning control part 9 batch-returns the contents of the cache buffer saving device 4 to the cache buffer 3 when the application program is executed again.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for accelerating font access, and more particularly to developing and expanding ROM fonts and file fonts installed in personal computers.
The present invention relates to a font cache backup mechanism for obtaining a high-speed response by backing up a cache buffer that stores modified font patterns.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for speeding up font access to ROM fonts and file fonts installed in a personal computer has adopted a method of caching a developed and modified font pattern (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-242242). (See Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-262785).

[0003]

In the conventional font access acceleration technology, the cache processing is started in conjunction with the activation of the application program, and the cache is released when the application program ends. It takes time for the cache effect to work after starting the program,
There was a problem that a quick response could not be obtained immediately.

It is an object of the present invention to restore / restore the contents of a cache buffer which stores a developed / modified font pattern in association with the start / end of an application program.
It is to provide a font cache backup mechanism that can immediately obtain the cache effect by saving.

[0005]

A font cache backup mechanism according to the present invention expands and expands a font.
For the cache buffer that stores the modified font pattern, the cache save control unit that saves the contents of the cache buffer to the cache buffer save device at the end of the application program, and the cache buffer save when the application program is re-executed A cache restoration control unit that collectively restores the contents of the device to the cache buffer.

[0006]

In the font cache backup mechanism of the present invention, when the application program ends, the cache save control unit saves the contents of the cache buffer in a batch to the cache buffer save device. When the application program is re-executed, the cache restoration control unit collectively restores the contents of the cache buffer saving device to the cache buffer. As a result, the response speed is increased.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a font cache backup mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention. The illustrated font cache backup mechanism saves an application program 1 that uses a font, a font cache control mechanism 2, a cache buffer 3 that caches (stores) expanded / modified font pattern data, and the contents of the cache buffer 3. A cache buffer saving device 4 for storing the data and a font file 5 which is a font pattern information file. The font cache control mechanism 2 is composed of a cache buffer control unit 6, a font file control unit 7, a cache save control unit 8, and a cache restoration control unit 9.

The cache buffer control unit 6 sends and receives commands to and from the application program 1 and controls the cache buffer 3. Font file control unit 7
Reads, develops and modifies font pattern information from a font pattern ROM (not shown) or a font pattern file (not shown). The cache save controller 8 saves the data in the cache buffer 3 to the cache buffer save device 4. The cache restoration control unit 9 restores data from the cache buffer saving device 4 to the cache buffer 4.

The process flow of the font cache backup mechanism will be described below. First, the flow until the expanded and modified font pattern is accumulated in the cache buffer 3 is shown. The application program 1 requests the font cache control mechanism 2 to acquire a font pattern including a character code and modification information.
When the cache buffer control unit 6 in the font cache control mechanism 2 receives the font pattern acquisition request,
It is checked whether or not the designated font pattern exists in the cache buffer 3, and if it exists, the font pattern is transferred to the application program 1 and the process ends. When the font pattern does not exist in the cache buffer 3, the cache buffer control unit 6 transfers control to the font file control unit 7. The font file control unit 7 reads a font pattern from the font file 5, expands and modifies it, and then returns control to the cache buffer control unit 6. Cache buffer control unit 6
Updates the cache buffer 3, transfers the font pattern to the application program 1, and ends the processing.

As described above, the application program 1 repeats the acquisition of font patterns, so that various font patterns are accumulated in the cache buffer 4 and the cache hit rate is improved.

Next, the flow until the cache buffer saving device 3 saves the font pattern information accumulated in the cache buffer 3 will be described. When the application program 1 declares a font pattern acquisition end to the font cache control mechanism 2, the cache buffer control unit 6 in the font cache control mechanism 2
Requests the cache save control unit 8 to save the font pattern information in the cache buffer 3. The cache evacuation control unit 8 reads the accumulated font pattern information from the cache buffer 3, outputs it to the cache buffer evacuation device 4 composed of a backup memory or a file device, and completes the processing.

When the application program 1 ends the program without declaring the end of font pattern acquisition, the task management mechanism (not shown) in the operating system terminates the application program 1 to the font cache control mechanism 2. By this notification, the saving process of the cache buffer 3 is performed in the same manner as described above.

Next, the font pattern information accumulated in the cache buffer saving device 4 is transferred to the cache buffer 3
The flow until returning to is explained. When the application program 1 is restarted and the font pattern acquisition start declaration is made to the font cache control mechanism 2, the cache buffer control unit 6 in the font cache control mechanism 2 causes the cache restoration control unit 9 to be in the cache buffer 3. Requests restoration of font pattern information. The cache restoration control unit 9 reads the font pattern saved in the cache buffer saving device 4 including a backup memory or a file device, outputs the font pattern to the cache buffer 3, and completes the processing.

If the application program 1 requests a font pattern without declaring the start of phantom pattern acquisition, the font cache control mechanism 2
Performs the above-mentioned return processing to the cache buffer 3 prior to the font acquisition processing.

[0016]

As described above, in the font cache backup mechanism of the present invention, compared to the conventional font cache mechanism, the data cached in the past is saved in the disk device or the backup memory and customized in the application program or the system. The font cache mechanism operates in this state, and a high-speed response can be immediately obtained. In addition, even when the system is restarted, similarly high-speed response can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a font cache backup mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 application program 2 font cache control mechanism 3 cache buffer 4 cache buffer save device 5 font file 6 cache buffer control unit 7 font file control unit 8 cache save control unit 9 cache restore control unit

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A cache evacuation control unit that collectively evacuates the contents of the cache buffer to a cache buffer evacuation device at the end of an application program for a cache buffer that stores a font pattern that has been expanded / modified to a font. A font cache backup mechanism comprising: a cache restoration control unit for collectively restoring the contents of the cache buffer saving device to the cache buffer when an application program is re-executed. 2. The font cache backup mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the font is a ROM font installed in a personal computer. 3. The font cache backup mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the font is a file font installed in a personal computer. 4. The font cache backup mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the cache buffer saving device is a disk device. 5. The font cache backup mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the cache buffer saving device is a backup memory.