JPH02287598A - Character pattern generation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate various character fonts with a small amount of font data by generating patterns by using pen patterns corresponding to segments. CONSTITUTION:A character font definition means performs definition with the pen patterns by the segments and a pen pattern holding means holds straight lines or the shapes of pens for drawing by fonts. Then one of the held pen patterns is specified according to pen index information and font information on each segment which are loaded by a processor 11. At this time, a coordinate generation part 13 generates coordinate values of a dot string approximating a segment corresponding to the information of the processor 11 and writes them in the pen pattern write part 15 of a pen pattern memory 12. Here, the pen pattern of information on the specification of a character font pattern is used to generate various fonts with a small amount of font data.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Purpose of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a character pattern generation method suitable for systems that require the generation of character patterns in various fonts, such as desktop publishing systems. .

(Prior Art) In general, desktop publishing systems and the like are required to be able to handle characters in a wide variety of fonts. Therefore, in this type of system, a large amount of font data is provided for each typeface, and the font data of the corresponding character is selected and used according to the required typeface.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, in the past, in order to handle characters in a wide variety of fonts, it was necessary to have font data for the number of fonts required, and the amount of font data became extremely large. There is also a problem in that the storage capacity of the memory required to store the data is enormous.

Therefore, the problem to be solved by this invention is to be able to handle character fonts in a wide variety of fonts with a small amount of font data.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problem) A group of pen patterns that define the shape of a pen for drawing straight line segments or curved segments that are constituent elements of the basic character shape skeleton unique to each character. Pen pattern holding means that holds each of the eight fonts and the character font of the pattern generation target character are used for each segment forming the skeleton of the basic character shape, and segment information indicating the shape of the segment and drawing of the same segment. A character font definition means that defines a pair of pen index information that specifies a pen pattern, and a typeface that defines corresponding pen index information and the typeface of the same font for each segment that constitutes the skeleton of the basic glyph of the character for which the pattern is generated. A pen pattern specifying means for specifying one of the pen patterns in the pen pattern holding means based on the information, and a corresponding pen pattern specifying means according to the segment information paired with the pen index information used for specifying the pen pattern specifying means. Coordinate generating means for generating coordinate values of a point sequence that approximates a segment, and pen pattern writing for writing a pen pattern specified by a pen pattern specifying means into an area on the memory indicated by the coordinate values generated by the coordinate generating means. means, and the character font pattern defined by the character font definition means is generated for each segment using a pen pattern specified by pen index information and font information corresponding to the segment. This is a characteristic feature.

(Operation) According to the above configuration, by simply preparing a group of pen patterns for each typeface, the character font definition means can generate a character font commonly defined for each typeface in a desired typeface. .

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a system to which the present invention is applied. In the figure, 11 is a processor that controls and manages the entire system. The processor 11 manages character font data necessary for generating character fonts (character patterns), and controls the generation of character fonts according to the data, characters to be generated, and their fonts.

Here, character font data managed by the processor 11 will be explained.

First, in this example, the basic shape (basic character shape) of each character is
Several straight lines (straight line segments) forming its skeleton,
It is defined by song tS<curve segment) or both. A straight line segment is defined by segment information (stroke information) consisting of information indicating this and the coordinates of the starting point and end point of the straight line segment (for example, coordinates with the upper left end of the character font as the origin). Further, a curve segment is defined by segment information including information indicating that fact and the coordinates of the start point, end point, and control point of the curve segment. Next, in this example, each straight line segment or curved segment (stroke) defined by the above segment information
By preparing various patterns (hereinafter referred to as pen patterns) that define the shape of the pen to generate thick characters, and specifying the pen pattern to be used for each segment of each character, the desired I am trying to generate a character pattern of the font. The above pen pattern designation information will be referred to as pen index information.

FIG. 2 shows the data structure of character font data managed by the processor 11. Character font data is
It consists of a pen pattern section 21 prepared for each typeface and basically commonly used for each character, and a character data section 22 prepared for each character. First, the pen pattern section 21 has all the pen patterns applied to the generation of character patterns of various characters of the corresponding typeface in a predetermined order. In this embodiment, each pen pattern is composed of a dot matrix pattern of the same size. Next, the character data section 22 is
A pen index section 23 in which pen index information is set for each segment constituting the basic character shape (skeleton) of the corresponding character, specifying a pen pattern for generating that segment by giving it a thickness; It has a pair of segment information sections 24 in which segment information to be defined is set.

Referring again to FIG. 1, 12 is a pen pattern memory into which the contents (pen pattern group) of all the pen pattern sections 21 in the character font data shown in FIG. 2 are loaded by the processor 11; This is a coordinate generation unit that sequentially generates coordinates from a starting point, for example, for a point sequence (lattice point sequence) on a screen that approximates a corresponding segment, according to the segment information provided. 14 is a display memory for holding an image to be displayed on the screen; 15 is a coordinate generating unit 1 which takes out a pen pattern specified by font information and pen index information given from the processor 11 from the pen pattern memory 12;
This is a pen pattern writing section that writes into an area within the display memory 14 centering on the coordinates generated from 3.

Next, the operation of the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, when displaying a character font, the processor 11 displays all the contents (pen pattern group) of the pen pattern section 21 prepared for each font out of the character font data it manages as shown in FIG. Load it into the pattern memory 12 (step SL). Next, the processor 11 inputs the character code of the character to be displayed (step S2),
From the character data section 22 of the character font data shown in FIG. 2, the contents of the corresponding pen index section 23 and segment information section 24 (pen index information and segment information ) is taken out (step S3).

When the processor 11 finishes step S3, it sets the font information indicating the font of the characters to be displayed and the retrieved pen index information in the pen pattern writing section 15,
The writing unit 15 is activated (step S4). In this embodiment, the font information is used to specify the contents of the pen pattern section 21 specific to the font indicated by the information among the contents of the pen pattern section 21 for each font loaded in the pen pattern memory 12. The pen index information is used to specify one of the pen patterns in the pen pattern section 21. Therefore, when the pen pattern writing section 15 is activated by the processor 11, it reads from the pen pattern memory 12 into the pen pattern memory in the pen pattern section 21 specified by the font information and pen index information set by the processor 11, and generates coordinates. Part 13
Waits for the coordinate output from (step S11).

On the other hand, the processor 11 converts the coordinate information on the corresponding character font included in the retrieved segment information (if the segment is a straight line, the coordinates of the start point and end point of the same segment on the corresponding character font) into the coordinates on the screen. The coordinate information is converted into the coordinate information shown in FIG. As a result, the coordinate generation unit 13 generates coordinate data in order from the starting point for the point sequence (lattice point sequence) that approximates the segment on the screen indicated by the coordinate information set by the processor 11 (after conversion of the segment information). , is output to the pen pattern writing section 15 (step S L2).

Each time the coordinate data is output from the coordinate generation unit 13, the pen pattern writing unit 15 writes the pen pattern extracted in step Sll so that the center of the pattern coincides with the coordinate position indicated by the coordinate data. It is written into the display memory 14 (step 813). Note that a buffer memory is provided to sequentially store the coordinate data from the coordinate generator 13, and the pen pattern writing to the display memory 14 is performed by the coordinate generator 13.
It is also possible to perform this asynchronously with the coordinate output operation. By performing the operations of steps S12 and S13 for one segment, the corresponding segment is drawn in the display memory 14 using the pen pattern taken out from the pen pattern memory 12 and displayed on the screen.

Now, when the drawing of one segment is completed, the processor 11 checks whether the drawing of all the segments constituting one character to be displayed has been completed (step SS).

If one character is not completed, the processor 11 executes step S3 again and retrieves the contents (pen index information and segment information) of the pen index section 23 and segment information section 24 corresponding to the next segment of the same character font. . Thereafter, the next segment is drawn in the display memory 14 using the pen pattern specified by the newly retrieved pen index information in the same way as in the case described above.

When the drawing of all the segments constituting one character is completed in this way, the processor 11 checks whether or not the drawing of all the characters is completed (step S7).
). If all characters have not been completed, the processor 11 executes step S2 again and inputs the character code of the next character to be displayed.

Thereafter, in the same way as in the case described above, the next character is drawn in the display memory 14 for each segment forming the same character.

A specific example of the above character font drawing is shown in the fifth example for the character A.
As shown in the figure. Further, FIG. 6 shows the correspondence between each segment constituting the character font in FIG. 5 and the pen pattern used to draw the segment. In the example of FIG. 5, the segment PI is
A pattern is written from point PI to point P2 that constitutes P2, and the pen pattern 62 is used to write the segment P2.
A pattern is written from point P2 to point P3, which constitutes P3. Further, the pen pattern B3 in FIG. 6 is used to write a pattern from point P4 to point PI, which constitutes segment P4 Pi, and the pen pattern 64 is used to write a pattern from point P5 to point P2.

Furthermore, using the pen pattern 65 in FIG. 6, patterns are written from point P6 to point P7, which constitute segments P6 to P7, and from point P8 to point P9, which constitute segments P8 to P9. A character font of the character A as shown is drawn. When drawing this character font,
When the processor 11 gives the pen pattern writing section 15 font information different from the above case,
Pen pattern memory 1 is different from the one shown in Figure 6.
2 and used to draw the character font of the letter A in a different font from that shown in FIG.

In the above embodiment, a case was explained in which a pen pattern retrieved from the pen pattern memory 12 is used as it is, but by enlarging/reducing this pen pattern and using it, a modified character font can be generated even though the font is the same. It is also possible. Furthermore, by converting the segment information into data according to the desired character magnification, it is possible to enlarge/reduce the character font, and at this time, the pen pattern can also be enlarged/reduced according to the character magnification. It is possible. Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the character font was described as being expanded directly into the display memory 14;
It is also possible to provide a rasterization memory and, after rasterizing a character font in the rasterization memory, transfer the font to the display memory. Furthermore, it is also possible to develop character fonts not only for display but also for printing. Furthermore,
The pen pattern memory 12 may be configured to load only the contents of the corresponding pen pattern section 21 each time the font is changed.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, character font data is represented by a group of segment information common to each typeface that defines a basic character shape unique to each character, and a group of segment information. A group of pen patterns for drawing by giving thickness etc. to each segment to be drawn, and for each segment indicated by segment information that defines the basic shape of the character to be drawn, that segment and the required font. Since the pattern is generated using a pen pattern corresponding to the font, a wide variety of font patterns for characters with the same basic glyph shape can be generated by simply changing the pen pattern, and characters can be created by typeface. Compared to conventional methods that require font data to be prepared, the amount of font data can be significantly reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a system to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the data structure of character font data managed by the processor 11 of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the processor 11 in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the pen pattern writing section 15 and coordinate generation section 13 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a specific example of character font drawing. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the correspondence between each segment making up the character font of FIG. 5 and the pen pattern used to draw that segment. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11... Processor, 12... Pen pattern memory, 13... Coordinate generation part, 14... Display memory, 15
... Pen pattern writing section, 21... Pen pattern section, 22... Character data section, 23... Pen index section, 24... Segment information section. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] Pen pattern holding that holds for each typeface a group of pen patterns that define the shape of a pen for drawing straight line segments or curved segments that are constituent elements of the skeleton of a basic glyph shape unique to each character. and segment information indicating the shape of the segment for each segment forming the skeleton of the basic character shape of the character font of the pattern generation target character, and pen index information specifying the above-mentioned pen pattern to be used for drawing the segment. Based on the corresponding pen index information and typeface information that defines the typeface of the same font for each segment that constitutes the skeleton of the basic glyph of the pattern generation target character,
A pen pattern specifying means for specifying one of the pen patterns in the pen pattern holding means, and approximating a corresponding segment according to the segment information paired with the pen index information used for specifying the pen pattern specifying means. coordinate generating means for generating coordinate values of a sequence of points to be generated; and pen pattern writing means for writing the pen pattern specified by the pen pattern specifying means into an area on the memory indicated by the coordinate values generated by the coordinate generating means. and, generating a character font pattern defined by the character font definition means for each segment using a pen pattern specified by the pen index information and font information corresponding to the segment. A character pattern generation method characterized by the following.