CN102446163B - Page lattice storage method for variable data printing and device adopting same - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a page lattice storage method for variable data printing and a device adopting the same. The method comprises the following steps: each page lattice in a series of page lattices is broken down into a reusable page lattice block and a variable page lattice block, wherein the series of page lattices are formed by breaking down a variable data printing operation which is subject to rasterization of an RIP (Raster Image Processor), and every lattice block of page has the consistent bit depth and resolution ratio; the reusable page lattice block and the variable page lattice block in each page lattice are described by XML (Extensible Markup Language) documents; the XML documents, one reusable page lattice block and all the variable page lattice blocks are stored. By adopting the page lattice storage method and the device adopting the same, which are provided by the invention, the storage method is flexible and easy to expand, the storage efficiency is high, and the method and the device are suitable for massive variable data printing systems.

Description

Page dot matrix storage method and device for variable data printing

technical field

The invention relates to the field of printing, in particular to a page dot matrix storage method and device for variable data printing.

Background technique

With the continuous development of digital printing technology, especially the continuous maturity and development of inkjet digital printing machines, variable data printing (Variable Data Printing, referred to as VDP) has been more and more popular in finance, postal, telecommunications, packaging and other industries. The wider the application, the main applications are: personalized bills, personalized bills, personalized advertisements, personalized labels, etc. The characteristic of variable data printing is that the content can be personalized and variable, and can be different from sheet to sheet. The most typical variable content is barcode (one-dimensional barcode and two-dimensional barcode), variable text (including numbers) string (such as name, address, date, serial number, zip code, contact number, etc.) and variable Graphical images (such as various trademarks, logos, etc.). These variable content information are usually stored in various databases. Using VDP editing software, the user can first create a page template, in which all static and unchanged page elements are arranged (if the user considers cost or printing quality, all static and unchanged elements can also use the traditional In this case, the page template may not contain static and unchanged page elements), while the dynamically variable page elements specify the binding relationship with the corresponding fields in the database. The actual printout time, according to this The binding relationship generates dynamic variable pages, and finally realizes the printing of variable data. Therefore, template plus database is a typical working mode of variable data printing, especially for massive variable data printing. The "massive" mentioned here generally refers to a lot of variable data, and the corresponding number of job pages will also be many, which may include thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of variable data pages.

VDP operations have both the characteristics of "different" and "similar". The so-called "different" means that each page of a VDP job usually contains variable content; the so-called "similar" means that they usually have a common template, most of the content of the page is the same, the most typical is that they have a common page background. How to make good use of these two characteristics of VDP operations is the key to effectively solve the output of VDP operations.

RIP is the abbreviation of Raster Image Processor, that is, a raster image processor, which converts a page description file (such as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file widely used in the industry) into a raster image and performs it on a raster imaging device (such as phototypesetting machine, computer-to-plate machine, digital printing press) on the output processor. Any VDP job must be processed by RIP to generate a rasterized image dot matrix corresponding to each page (hereinafter referred to as page dot matrix for short). For different VDP jobs, due to the complexity of the page content, the corresponding page rasterization time is also different. That is to say, the speed of RIP generating page dot matrix is uncertain, and it cannot be guaranteed to be greater than the page dot consumption of digital printing machines. The speed of the array, especially for high-speed inkjet digital printing machines. Once the speed of RIP to generate page dot matrix is lower than the speed of digital printing machine to consume page dot matrix, digital printing machine will generate data underflow error. At present, a typical and safe VDP job output method in the field of digital printing technology is to first process the VDP job by RIP, generate the page dot matrix data corresponding to all pages after rasterization processing, and compress and store it to the disk, and finally the output device The printing control software reads the page dot matrix data of each page from the disk, decompresses and restores the flat page dot matrix data and sends it to the digital printing machine, and finally drives the device for output.

The traditional page dot matrix storage method generally compresses and stores independently in units of pages. Although this storage method is easy to handle and can adapt to multiple RIPs processing a VDP job file at the same time, it does not take full advantage of the "similar" feature of VDP jobs, that is, it does not consider the problem of page dot matrix data reuse across pages. As a result, the data compression rate and access efficiency are relatively low, and it is not suitable for processing massive VDP operations. To give a typical example in actual production, a VDP job containing 10,000 pages needs to be stored in 40,000 color-separated page bitmap files (assuming that the page bitmap data of the four color planes of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are stored in one page each) Dot matrix file), in fact, many data in these 40,000 color-separated page dot matrix files are redundant, and the page dot matrix data reused across pages does not actually need to be stored repeatedly. On the other hand, since the resolution of current digital printing machines is generally low, generally only 300DPI to 600DPI, the dot matrix file corresponding to each page is generally relatively small after compression, so the output system needs to store 40,000 small files. Obviously, accessing a large number of small files is far less efficient than accessing a large file of the same size. In addition, it is not convenient to efficiently store and transmit a large number of page dot matrix data files. In addition, when a massive VDP job output needs to be deleted after the corresponding massive number of page dot matrix files are deleted, the deletion operation will also be time-consuming. .

Contents of the invention

The present invention aims to provide a page dot matrix storage method and device for variable data printing proposed by the present invention, aiming to solve the above-mentioned problem of low storage efficiency.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a page dot matrix storage method for variable data printing is provided, comprising: decomposing each page dot matrix in a series of page dot matrix into reusable page dot matrix A series of page dot matrix blocks and variable page dot matrix blocks, wherein a series of page dot matrix is obtained by decomposing a variable data printing job through RIP rasterization, each of the page dot matrix The bit depth and resolution of the blocks are consistent; use XML files to describe reusable page bitmap blocks and variable page bitmap blocks in each page bitmap; store XML files, reusable page bitmap blocks and variable page tiles into one or more packages in which only one copy of the reusable page tiles is stored; decomposing each of said page tiles in a series of page tiles into reusable page tiles Composition of variable page lattice blocks includes: analyzing static data and dynamic data in each of the page lattices; using the static data as the reusable page lattice blocks, and using the dynamic data as the The variable page dot blocks described above.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a page dot matrix storage device for variable data printing is provided, including: a decomposing module, used to decompose each page dot matrix in a series of page dot matrix into A series of page dot matrix blocks composed of reused page dot matrix blocks and variable page dot matrix blocks. A series of page dot matrix blocks are decomposed by a variable data printing job after RIP rasterization. Each The bit depth and resolution of the page lattice blocks are consistent; the description module is used to describe reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks in each page lattice using an XML file; the storage module is used for storing XML files, reusable page bitmap blocks and variable page bitmap blocks into one or more packages, wherein only one copy of reusable page bitmap blocks is stored; the decomposing module is used to analyze each of the Static data and dynamic data in the page lattice; use the static data as the reusable page lattice block, and use the dynamic data as the variable page lattice block.

The page lattice storage method and device of the present invention store only one copy of the reusable page lattice block, thus reducing the amount of data and solving the problem of low storage efficiency in the prior art. The storage method is flexible and easy to expand. High access efficiency, suitable for mass variable data printing system.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings described here are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the application. The schematic embodiments of the present invention and their descriptions are used to explain the present invention and do not constitute improper limitations to the present invention. In the attached picture:

Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of a page dot matrix storage method for variable data printing according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2-5 show application scenarios according to preferred embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a page dot matrix storage device for variable data printing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and in combination with embodiments.

Fig. 1 shows a flow chart of a page dot matrix storage method for variable data printing according to an embodiment of the present invention, including:

Step S10, decomposing each page lattice in a series of page lattices into reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks, wherein a series of page lattices is composed of a variable The data printing job is decomposed after RIP rasterization;

Step S20, using an XML file to describe reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks in each page lattice;

Step S30, storing the XML file, the reusable page bitmap block and the variable page bitmap block, wherein only one copy of the reusable page bitmap block is stored.

In the prior art, each page dot matrix file is stored separately, resulting in a large number of scattered small files, thereby affecting the efficiency of file storage and access. However, in the page lattice storage method of the present embodiment, the page lattice file is decomposed into page lattice blocks, and only one copy of the reusable page lattice blocks is stored, so the amount of data is reduced, and the storage efficiency of the prior art is solved. The storage method is flexible and easy to expand, and the access efficiency is high, which is suitable for mass variable data printing systems.

Preferably, step S10 includes: analyzing static data and dynamic data in each page lattice; using static data as reusable page lattice blocks, and using dynamic data as variable page lattice blocks.

A variable data printing job can be decomposed into a series of color-separated page dot matrix after RIP rasterization. Typically, the page dot matrix of each page is composed of cyan (Cyan), magenta (Magenta), yellow (Yellow) , black (blacK) page dot matrix composed of four color planes. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the first page and the last page of a typical short-version variable data document. An official document generally has several pages or dozens of pages of text, and usually needs to be printed out dozens or hundreds of copies, but the first and last pages of each copy contain variable content, such as copy number, barcode, receipt The name of the person or unit, the name of the person or unit that is copied, etc. In addition, there is usually an additional official seal of the issuing unit on the last page of each copy. Obviously, the text content and official seal of the official document are invariable and reusable page dot matrix blocks in all copies of the official document, while the copied serial number, barcode, and name of the receiving unit are variable page dot matrix blocks. Different copies of the official document have Different serial numbers, barcodes, and recipient unit names. Suppose an official document has 15 pages, and 100 copies need to be printed, so the front-end RIP system will generate 1500 pages. For simplicity, assuming that there are only red and black colors, the RIP system will generate a total of 3000 red and black corresponding pages. Page dot matrix. Except for the first and last pages, the middle 13 pages are obviously the same for all copies, and the page dot matrix corresponding to each page can be regarded as composed of only one reusable page dot matrix block. The page dot matrix of the home page can be regarded as a background text page dot matrix block shared by different copies and page dot matrix blocks corresponding to several variable elements, and the last page can also be regarded as a background text shared by different copies It consists of a page dot matrix block, a page dot matrix block corresponding to an official seal shared by different copies, and a page dot matrix block corresponding to several variable elements. Generally, a page lattice can be regarded as composed of a series of page lattice blocks reused by different pages and variable page lattice blocks of different pages. By distinguishing reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks The array block can obviously greatly reduce the redundancy of the page lattice data that needs to be stored.

Preferably, step S20 includes: describing the position and size of each page dot matrix block in the page dot matrix, and its functional relationship with the corresponding background in the page dot matrix, the functional relationship includes transparent mode and opaque mode.

Each page dot matrix block and the background have two modes of action, one is the opaque mode, that is, the data of the current page dot matrix block completely replaces the background page dot matrix data of the corresponding area; the other is the transparent mode, that is, the current page dot matrix data The color value of each pixel in the dot matrix data is logically added to the corresponding background pixel as the target color value. With these information, it is easy to restore this page bitmap block into each page bitmap file.

Preferably, step S30 includes: storing the reusable page lattice block as a first file in the first directory, storing the variable page lattice block as a second file in the second directory, storing the XML file, the A directory and a second directory are packaged as a file or a file sequence, where the XML file records the ID of the variable data printing job, and references to the first file and the second file, and if packaged as a file sequence, the XML file also records The reference relationship of each file in the file sequence.

In order to limit the file size or the number of pages contained in each ZIP package and for the consideration of parallel processing, a variable data printing job can correspond to a page dot matrix ZIP package, and can also correspond to multiple interrelated pages according to the page number. Sequence of pages in the bitmap ZIP package in increasing order. A job ID is recorded in the Job.xml file (that is, the XML file) in each ZIP package. Different jobs have different job IDs, and different ZIP packages from the same job all have the same job ID. Two parameters are also recorded in the Job.xml file in each ZIP package: Prev and Next (that is, the XML file also records the reference relationship of each file in the file sequence), which respectively represent the name of the last ZIP package in the ZIP package sequence and the name of the next subsequent ZIP package, the Prev of the first ZIP package in the sequence of ZIP packages and the Next of the last ZIP package are all empty.

The page bitmap of each page uses XML to describe all referenced reusable page bitmap blocks and variable page bitmap blocks. The main description information includes the position, size, and background of each page bitmap block in the page The function mode and the corresponding logical file name, etc., the page bitmap XML description of all pages constitutes a job XML description file Job.xml, and all page bitmap block data and Job.xml file are packaged and stored in a standard ZIP package middle. All reusable page bitmap block data is placed in a specific logical directory Reusable (namely the first directory) in the ZIP package, and all variable page bitmap block data is placed in another specific logical directory in the ZIP package Under the directory Disposable (that is, the second directory). Each page bitmap block data corresponds to a logical file in a ZIP package, and the Job.xml file describes the page bitmap block composition of each page to refer to the corresponding page bitmap block data through the logical file name. Through this preferred embodiment, a large number of scattered files generated in the rasterization process of the prior art can be combined into one or several files, thereby significantly improving file storage efficiency.

Preferably, the XML file, the first directory and the second directory are compressed and packaged into a file or a sequence of files. This further reduces the amount of data. It is worth noting that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the reusable page lattice blocks can be reused across pages in one ZIP package, and can also be reused across different ZIP packages within the same job.

Preferably, the reusable page bitmap blocks are compressed into the first file, and the variable page bitmap blocks are compressed into the second file by the run-length encoding compression RLE method and/or the industry standard data compression function library ZLIB method. Before the data of each page dot matrix block is added to the standard ZIP package, the run-length encoding compression method RLE and ZLIB compression methods widely used in the industry can be used to compress the page dot matrix data first, and then store the compressed data in the ZIP package In addition, different page dot matrix blocks can use different dot matrix compression methods to improve the dot matrix compression rate.

Preferably, compressing the reusable page bitmap block into a first file through the run-length coding compression method and/or the ZLIB method, and compressing the variable page bitmap block into a second file includes: first starting from the page bitmap block Extract multiple feature rows, and compress the feature rows using the run-length coding compression method. If the compression rate is greater than the threshold T1, use the run-length coding compression method to compress the page lattice block; if the compression rate is not greater than the threshold T1, use the ZLIB method to compress the page For a lattice block, if the compression ratio is not greater than the threshold T2, the compression of the lattice block of the page is cancelled.

In order to take into account both the compression rate of the page bitmap data and the speed of compression and decompression, an intelligent selection method is adopted for the compression of the page bitmap data, that is, a number of feature rows are first extracted from the page bitmap data, Run-length encoding compression method is used for experimental compression. If the compression rate is greater than the threshold T1 (typically, it can be set to 8), it is considered that the page lattice block data is suitable for run-length encoding compression method, and the compressed data is written into ZIP. Bag. Otherwise, the ZLIB compression method is used to compress the entire page dot matrix data. If the ZLIB compression method is used to compress the data compression rate greater than the threshold T2 (typically can be set to 2), then write the compressed data into the ZIP package, otherwise it is considered that the compression effect is not ideal, and the original data of the page dot matrix block is directly stored Write the ZIP package.

Figure 3 is an example of a template for a more general variable data job. The "Static" page element in the figure represents a static and unchanged graphic, image or text, that is, a page dot matrix block that is reused across pages. "Variable" means dynamically variable graphics, images or text, that is, page dot blocks that are variable across pages. Usually variable data typesetting software (such as typical label design software) generates templates for variable data jobs through typesetting, and then combines databases to generate different pages of massive variable data printing jobs. Figures 4 and 5 are schematic diagrams of two pages generated by applying the template shown in Figure 3 and combining two records in the database. It can be seen from Figure 3 that a page dot matrix corresponding to a variable data printing job can be regarded as a series of page dot matrix blocks and different page dot matrix blocks that are reused by different pages (even reused at different positions in the same page). Variable page lattice blocks are formed, and the composition method is described in the embodiment of the present invention using standard XML, and the page lattice of each page is described by the XML page element PAGE, specifically refer to Table 1:

Table 1

The above table 1 gives the XML description of the page lattice corresponding to a page. The page lattice XML description of all pages constitutes an XML document element DOCUMENT, together with the XML job element JOB of a job constitutes a complete job XML file Job.xml , see the following table 2 for its specific composition.

Table 2

The specific instructions are as follows:

1) The initial page background of all pages is blank.

2) The page dot matrix corresponding to a page is composed of a series of page dot matrix blocks (represented by the XML element MARK), and the item order of each MARK element in the PAGE element determines the page dot matrix block put into the page dot matrix background Order.

3) Each page dot matrix block and the page dot matrix background have two modes of action, one is the opaque mode, corresponding to the Type attribute of the MARK element in Table 1 as Image, that is, the data of the current page dot matrix block is completely replaced by the corresponding The background page dot matrix data of the area; the other is the transparent mode, which corresponds to the Type attribute of the MARK element in Table 1 as Graph, that is, the non-zero pixels in the current page dot matrix block data replace the corresponding background pixels. You can also define more complex transparent modes, such as logical or, take the maximum value, take the minimum value, etc.

4) The bit depth and resolution of each page dot matrix block should be consistent.

5) The specific size and position of each page dot matrix block on the page are determined by the Dimensions and Position attributes of the MARK element. Both Dimensions and Position are in pixels. Dimensions gives the width Width and height of the page dot matrix block, and Position gives the coordinate values X and Y of the upper left corner of the page dot matrix block relative to the upper left corner of the page. The Width of the dot matrix block on the page and the X coordinate on the page have alignment requirements. The specific description is as follows: (There is no alignment requirement for Height and Y)

For a 1-bit lattice, Width and X should be aligned by 8 pixels

For 2 bit matrix, Width, X should be aligned by 4 pixels

For 4 bit matrix, Width, X should be aligned by 2 pixels

For 8-bit dot matrix, Width and X should be aligned by 1 pixel, that is, there is no alignment requirement

6) The MARK element corresponding to each page dot matrix block is composed of several sub-elements SEPARATION, and each sub-element SEPARATION corresponds to a color plane. The sub-element SEPARATION can be omitted. For a color surface not given, it means that the color surface is completely white. For example, if a certain page is a black and white page, the SEPARATION sub-elements corresponding to the three color planes of CMY can all be omitted.

7) The attribute Source of the SEPARATION element gives the logical file name of the dot matrix data in the ZIP package corresponding to the corresponding color surface of the dot matrix block of the corresponding page, and the Format attribute gives the compression of the corresponding dot matrix data in the ZIP package Format.

The page dot matrix storage method of the variable data printing job described in the embodiment of the present invention is to pack and store all the page dot matrix block data files and the Job.xml file in a job into a standard ZIP package, all reusable The page lattice block data is stored in a specific logical directory Reusable in the ZIP package, and it is only stored once, but the logical file name in the ZIP can be quoted multiple times, which can greatly reduce data redundancy; All variable page grid block data are stored in another specific logical directory Disposable in the ZIP package, which is stored only once like the reusable page grid block data, but the logical file name in ZIP is often only stored Quote once. The Job.xml file is stored in the logical root directory of the ZIP package. Each page bitmap block data corresponds to a logical file in a ZIP package, and the Job.xml file refers to the corresponding page point through the logical file name given by the Source attribute of the SEPARATION element when describing the page bitmap composition of each page Block data, and the attribute Format gives the compression format of the corresponding page bit block data.

Since the ZIP package file is a standard ZIP file, users can open the ZIP package by using common software such as WinZip and WinRAR, decompress it and release it to any directory in the hard disk, and the Job.xml file is also a standard readable XML file. When necessary, the user can easily check the integrity and correctness of the data, and it is also easy to flexibly expand new job features by extending the relevant elements and attributes of the XML file, which has strong scalability.

According to the above-mentioned page dot matrix storage method, usually a relatively small short-version job corresponds to a ZIP package file. For a large printing job such as a mass variable data printing job, if all pages are packaged and stored in a ZIP package, the ZIP package file may become extremely huge, which can be as large as dozens of gigabytes or even several Hundreds of gigabytes, very inconvenient for file storage and network transmission. In order to operate the page dot matrix ZIP package file more effectively, you can limit the file size of each generated ZIP package or limit the number of pages contained therein. That is to say, a variable data printing job may correspond to a page dot matrix ZIP package, or may correspond to a sequence of multiple interrelated page dot matrix ZIP packages arranged in ascending order of page numbers. A job ID is recorded in the Job.xml file in each ZIP package. Different jobs have different job IDs, and different ZIP packages from the same job all have the same job ID. The DOCUMENT element in the Job.xml file in each ZIP package also records two attribute parameters: Prev and Next (see Table 2), which respectively represent the name of the previous ZIP package and the next subsequent ZIP package in the ZIP package sequence The name of the ZIP package, the Prev of the first ZIP package in the ZIP package sequence and the Next of the last ZIP package are both empty. When the printing control software of the back-end output device interprets the page dot matrix ZIP package of the above-mentioned variable data printing job, it can find out the complete sequence of ZIP packages constituting a job according to the Prev and Next parameters, so as to output according to the correct page order.

Furthermore, in order to reduce the data volume of the page lattice ZIP package, before adding the data of each page lattice block into the standard ZIP package, the run-length encoding compression method RLE and ZLIB compression methods widely used in the industry can be used, that is, the page point The block data is compressed, and then the compressed data is stored in the ZIP package, and different page dot matrix blocks can use different dot matrix compression methods to improve the dot matrix compression rate. In the above Table 1, each page bitmap block corresponds to a MARK element, and the Format attribute of the subelement SEPARATION of the MARK element provides the compression format of the corresponding page bitmap block data. Since different page dot matrix blocks correspond to different types, it may be graphic or text page dot matrix blocks, or image page dot matrix blocks, different types of page dot matrix blocks, the suitable dot matrix data compression method It is not the same, different page dot matrix block using different dot matrix compression method can effectively improve the compression ratio.

Furthermore, in order to take into account both the compression rate of the page bitmap data and the speed of compression and decompression, an intelligent selection method is adopted for the compression of the page bitmap data, that is, some features are first extracted from the page bitmap data OK, use the run-length coding compression method to perform experimental compression on these feature rows, if the compression rate is greater than the threshold T1 (typically can be set to 8), it is considered that the page lattice block data is suitable for using the run-length coding compression method, and the compressed The data is written into the ZIP package. Otherwise, the ZLIB compression method is used to compress the entire page dot matrix data. If the ZLIB compression method is used to compress the data compression rate greater than the threshold T2 (typically can be set to 2), then write the compressed data into the ZIP package, otherwise it is considered that the compression effect is not ideal, and the original data of the page dot matrix block is directly stored Write the ZIP package.

Further, the reusable page lattice blocks can be reused across pages in one ZIP package, and can also be reused across packages in different ZIP packages within the same job. When the printing control software of the back-end output device interprets the page dot matrix ZIP package of the above-mentioned variable data printing job, it can adopt high-speed buffering technology for the reusable page dot matrix block data in a package, so that the reusable page dot matrix block When the data is multiplexed every time, the corresponding page lattice block data is directly retrieved from the high-speed buffer according to the logical file name, and if it cannot be found, it is relocated in the ZIP package file to find the corresponding page lattice block data. If the high-speed buffer is large, the reusable page lattice block data of several packages in the same job can also be buffered to improve system efficiency.

In summary, with the page dot matrix storage method described in the present invention, all the page dot matrix data generated after a variable data printing job is processed by RIP are stored in one or more standard ZIP packages, which improves the page size. The efficiency of dot matrix data storage, access, transmission, and deletion is particularly effective for a printing job with a large amount of variable data, because the method of the present invention eliminates the page dot matrix of a large number of pages in the traditional method Create, close, delete, etc. files. Second, the reusable page lattice data is only stored once, which can obviously improve the compression rate of the page lattice data and reduce data redundancy. Third, the storage method can support a variable data printing job to be processed by RIP to generate a ZIP package of all page dot matrix data, and then the output device print control software loads the ZIP package for final output, that is, the so-called serial work Mode can also support the actual output job while RIP job, that is, the so-called parallel working mode, as long as RIP generates ZIP package fast enough to keep up with the speed of ZIP package consumption by the printing control software of the output device. Typically, after the software that generates the page dot matrix ZIP package finishes writing the first ZIP package file, at the same time as it starts to generate the next page dot matrix ZIP package of the same job, the print control software of the output device can start printing and outputting the first ZIP package in parallel. A ZIP package file. Fourth, a variable data printing job corresponds to one or several standard ZIP packages, which can be opened by using common WinZip and WinRAR software, and the Job.xml file is also a standard readable XML file. It is easy for the reader to check the integrity and correctness of the data, and it is also easy to flexibly expand new job features by extending the attributes of the relevant elements of the XML file, which has strong scalability.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a page dot matrix storage device for variable data printing according to an embodiment of the present invention, including:

The decomposition module 10 is used to decompose each page lattice in a series of page lattices into reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks, wherein a series of page lattices is composed of A variable data printing job is decomposed after RIP rasterization;

A description module 20, configured to use an XML file to describe reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks in each page lattice;

The storage module 30 is used for storing XML files, reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks, wherein only one copy of the reusable page lattice blocks is stored.

The page lattice storage device of this embodiment decomposes the page lattice file into page lattice blocks, and stores only one copy of the reusable page lattice blocks, thus reducing the amount of data and solving the problem of low storage efficiency in the prior art The storage method is flexible and easy to expand, and the access efficiency is high, which is suitable for mass variable data printing systems.

Preferably, the decomposing module 10 is used to analyze static data and dynamic data in each page lattice; the static data is used as a reusable page lattice block, and the dynamic data is used as a variable page lattice block. This preferred embodiment can greatly reduce the redundancy of the page dot matrix data that needs to be stored.

Preferably, the description module 20 is used to describe the position and size of each page dot matrix block in the page dot matrix, and its functional relationship with the corresponding background in the page dot matrix. The functional relationship includes transparent mode and opaque mode. With these information, it is easy to restore this page bitmap block into each page bitmap file.

Preferably, the storage module 30 is used to store the reusable page lattice block as a first file in the first directory, store the variable page lattice block as a second file in the second directory, and store the XML file, The first directory and the second directory are packaged as a file or a sequence of files, wherein the XML file records the ID of the variable data printing job, and references to the first file and the second file, and if packaged as a sequence of files, the XML file also Record the reference relationship of each file in the file sequence. This preferred embodiment significantly improves file storage efficiency.

From the above description, it can be seen that the present invention makes full use of the feature of cross-page reuse of part of the page content in the VDP job, its data compression rate and access efficiency are relatively high, and the storage format is flexible and easy to expand, which is very suitable for massive variable Data printing system.

Using the page dot matrix storage method and device described in the embodiments of the present invention, all the page dot matrix data generated after a variable data printing job is processed by RIP are stored in one or more standard ZIP packages, which improves the page dot matrix. The efficiency of array data storage, access, transmission, and deletion is particularly obvious for a printing job with a large amount of variable data, because the method and device described in the embodiments of the present invention eliminate the problem of a large number of pages in the traditional method. Operations such as creating, closing, and deleting page bitmap files. Second, the reusable page bitmap data is only stored once, which can obviously improve the compression rate of the page bitmap data. Third, the storage method and device can support a variable data printing job to be processed by RIP to generate a ZIP package of all page dot matrix data, and then the device control program loads the ZIP package for final output, that is, the so-called serial work Mode, can also support the actual output job while RIP job, the so-called parallel working mode, as long as the RIP generates ZIP packets fast enough to keep up with the speed of the device controller to consume ZIP packets. Fourth, a variable data printing job corresponds to one or several standard ZIP packages, which can be opened by using common WinZip and WinRAR software, and the Job.xml file is also a standard readable XML file. It is easy for the reader to check the integrity and correctness of the data, and it is also easy to flexibly expand new job features by extending the attributes of the relevant elements of the XML file, which has strong scalability.

Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that each module or each step of the above-mentioned present invention can be realized by a general-purpose computing device, and they can be concentrated on a single computing device, or distributed in a network formed by multiple computing devices Optionally, they can be implemented with program codes executable by computing devices, so that they can be stored in storage devices and executed by computing devices, or they can be made into individual integrated circuit modules, or their Multiple modules or steps are implemented as a single integrated circuit module. As such, the present invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention may have various modifications and changes. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (9)

1. A page dot matrix storage method for variable data printing, characterized in that it comprises: Decomposing each of the page lattices in a series of page lattices into a series of page lattice blocks composed of reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks, wherein the series of page lattice blocks The page dot matrix is obtained by decomposing a variable data printing job through RIP rasterization, and the bit depth and resolution of each said page dot matrix block are consistent; using an XML file to describe the reusable page lattice blocks and the variable page lattice blocks in each of the page lattices; storing the XML file, the reusable page bitmap block and the variable page bitmap block into one or more packages, wherein only one copy of the reusable page bitmap block is stored; Decomposing each of the page lattices in a series of page lattices into reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks includes: analyzing static data and dynamic data in each said page lattice; The static data is used as the reusable page grid block, and the dynamic data is used as the variable page grid block. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, using an XML file to describe the reusable page lattice blocks and the variable page lattice blocks in each of the page lattices comprises: Describe the position and size of each page dot matrix block in the page dot matrix, and its functional relationship with the corresponding background in the page dot matrix, the functional relationship includes a transparent mode and an opaque mode. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein storing the XML file, the reusable page lattice block and the variable page lattice block comprises: storing the reusable page bitmap block as a first file in a first directory, storing the variable page bitmap block as a second file in a second directory, and storing the XML file, the the first directory and the second directory are packaged as one file or a sequence of files, wherein the XML file records the ID of the VDP job and references to the first file and the second file, If packaged as the file sequence, the XML file also records the reference relationship of each file in the file sequence. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, the reusable page lattice block is compressed into the first file by run-length coding compression RLE method and/or data compression function library ZLIB method, and The variable page bitmap block is compressed into the second file. 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the reusable page bitmap block is compressed into the first file by the RLE method and/or the ZLIB method, and the variable page bitmap Block compression for the second file includes: First extracting a plurality of feature rows from the page lattice block, compressing the feature rows using the RLE method, if the compression rate is greater than a threshold T1, then using the RLE method to compress the page lattice block; If the compression rate is not greater than the threshold T1, the ZLIB method is used to compress the page lattice block, and if the compression rate is not greater than the threshold T2, the compression of the page lattice block is cancelled. 6. The method according to claim 3, wherein the XML file, the first directory and the second directory are compressed and packaged into the one file or the one file sequence. 7. A page dot matrix storage device for variable data printing, characterized in that it comprises: A decomposition module, configured to decompose each of the page lattices in a series of page lattices into a series of page lattice blocks composed of reusable page lattice blocks and variable page lattice blocks, wherein, The series of page dot matrixes are obtained by decomposing a variable data printing job through RIP rasterization, and the bit depth and resolution of each of the page dot matrix blocks are consistent; A description module, configured to use an XML file to describe the reusable page lattice blocks and the variable page lattice blocks in each of the page lattices; A storage module, configured to store the XML file, the reusable page bitmap block and the variable page bitmap block into one or more packages, wherein only one copy of the reusable page bitmap is stored piece; The decomposing module is used to analyze static data and dynamic data in each of the page lattices; the static data is used as the reusable page lattice block, and the dynamic data is used as the variable page Dot matrix blocks. 8. The device according to claim 7, wherein the description module is used to describe the position and size of each of the page dot matrix blocks in the page dot matrix, and its relationship with the page dot matrix The action relationship of the corresponding background in , the action relationship includes a transparent mode and an opaque mode. 9. The device according to claim 7, wherein the storage module is used to store the reusable page bitmap block as a first file in the first directory, and store the variable page bitmap block Blocks are stored in a second directory as a second file, and the XML file, the first directory, and the second directory are packaged into one file or a sequence of files, wherein the XML file records the variable data If the ID of the printing job and the references to the first file and the second file are packaged as the file sequence, the XML file also records the reference relationship of each file in the file sequence.