JPH0619699B2 - Page printer control method - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a page printer control system for overlaying forms and data necessary for printing characters, graphics, etc. on a printer.

[Background of the Invention and its Problems]

Form overlay allows the page printer to have a form overlay function, so that the specified format can be printed at the same time as the data when printing the data, without using a specific paper that has been printed in the specified format in advance such as printer form paper. It is a thing.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in controlling a page printer of this type, there are two types: a software (sometimes referred to as form information) overlay of data and a hardware overlay of form and data. . However, the former method has a drawback that the host computer controlling the page printer is overloaded. In the latter method, a code data buffer and a form buffer for one page (or two pages) are used, and when printing, the outputs of both buffers are combined line by line and printed through a character generator. This has the disadvantage that the relationship between the form and data is fixed to rows and columns, and it is not possible to print characters and figures at arbitrary positions. Also, the generation of figures and the combination of figures and character data are similar. However, there was also the drawback that it lacked flexibility because it was limited by the digits.

[Object of the Invention]

In view of the above-mentioned drawbacks, an object of the present invention is to provide a page printer control system that does not impose a burden on a host computer and that can generate characters and figures at arbitrary positions for printing. is there.

[Outline of Invention]

The present invention is a page printer control method in which a print image is created by overlaying form information sent from a host computer and data to be printed, and the print image is output to a printer for printing. A page memory that stores a figure pattern and image information in the form of a dot image is provided. The main processor receives the form information sent from the host computer and interprets it. Write in the form of dot image on the page memory by using the sub processor after the main processor receives the data to be printed sent from the host computer. By doing so, By executing the overlay data and the form in the memory, to achieve the above object.

Example of Invention

An embodiment of a page printer control system of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printer control system to which the page printer control system of the present invention is applied. The main processor 4 to which the host system interface controller 1, the control program memory 2 and the memory 3 are connected is a sub processor 5
And the printer interface controller 6. The character generator 7, the sub processor 5 to which the memory 8 is connected, the page memory 9, and the printer interface controller 6 are the page memory bus 10
It is connected to the.

The host system interface controller 1 is connected to a host computer (not shown) of the host system, and controls transmission / reception of commands, data, and status between the printer control system and the host system. The control program memory 2 stores a control program executed by the main processor 4.

In the memory 3, the work memory, the data buffer, the table necessary for the main processor 4 to execute the control program, the form buffer for storing the form information, and the data such as characters cannot be immediately expanded in the page memory 9. At this time, it is composed of a data expansion buffer for temporarily storing this data. The main processor 4 receives a command and data from the host computer of the host system via the host system interface controller 1 according to the control program, interprets the command using the memory 3 and executes the command, and then executes the command via the host system interface controller 1. The control is to send back the status to the host computer of the host system. Further, the main processor 4 gives parameters to the sub processor 5 such as a character code, a character size, and a character position on the page memory 9, and performs control to instruct to develop a character or the like into a dot image. Furthermore, the main processor 4
The printer interface controller 6 controls the printer (not shown) by activating print start and reading the status.
Based on the parameters received from the main processor 4, the sub-processor 5 carries out a high-speed pixel calculation for fetching a character pattern from the character generator 7 and developing the character pattern on the page memory 9 in the form of a dot image. In addition, the sub processor 5 creates a data area table of data indicating an area developed on the page memory 9 in the memory 8 according to a command from the main processor 4 or creates a corresponding area on the page memory 9 by this table. It also controls to clear. The character generator 7 generates a corresponding character dot pattern according to the designation of a character code from the sub processor 5, and includes a character ROM and an external character RAM. Memory 8
Is composed of a data area table showing an area of data expanded on the page memory 9 and a work memory of the sub processor 5. The page memory path 10 is
The access to the page memory 9 from the sub processor 5 and the access to the page memory 9 from the printer interface control device 6 are transmitted. The page memory 9 writes a character pattern, a figure pattern, and image information corresponding to one page of print paper in the form of a dot image, and temporarily stores these dot images. The printer interface control device 6 performs printer start control, print data transmission control, page memory read control, print position synchronization control, printer status read control, and the like.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. (1) A host computer (not shown) provides the form information by the form load command to the main processor 4 via the host system interface controller 1, and the main processor 4 temporarily stores it in the form buffer of the memory 3. The form information is described in the form of a control code, and the main processor 4 interprets and executes the received form information. The main processor 4 then executes the basic form information sent subsequently from the host computer, interprets the form information, and controls the writing of this form content in the page memory 9 in the form of a dot pattern.

The control of writing the dot pattern on the page memory 9 is performed by the main processor 4 giving a control parameter to the sub processor 5 for each character (one pixel in the case of a figure) and then issuing a micro command. When the sub-processor 5 receives the micro command, it obtains a dot pattern from the character mask ROM / external character RAM (or pixel data register) based on the control parameter, processes the pixel data, and writes them in the page memory 9. When writing is performed while expanding all the basic form information on the page memory 9 in this way, the basic form is formed on the page memory 9 in the form of a dot image.

This corresponds to the preprint form of the preprinted form (data is not entered) used in the impact printer.

Here, the form information will be described. The form information is information that indicates the format definition of the form and is described by control codes, and includes SFM (Start of Form) and EFM (End
of form), and is sent from the host system as the data part of the ELDS (form load) command. FIG. 2 shows the format of the form information, which can be stored in the form buffer of the memory 3 based on the designated set of the FLDS command.

The print data control information is the control information for printing the data sent by the print command. The contents are paper usage direction, print range setting,
Print direction, basic character size, basic print pitch, basic line pitch, basic unit system, etc. The basic form control information is information that defines the basic form of the form, and is generation information corresponding to the preprint form of the preprint form used in the impact printer. This basic form control information can define all of the character function, ruled line and graphic function, form function, and form function by various control codes. There is also a function for repeatedly specifying ruled lines.

(2) Returning to the description of the operation of this embodiment, when data to be printed is sent by a print command from a host computer (not shown) following the operation described in (1),
The main processor 4 and the sub-processor 5 develop the data to be printed in the form of dots on the page memory 9 on which the dot image of the basic form is formed by the operation of (1), and the data and the form of the data are formed on the page memory 9. Perform an overlay. At this time, the data to be printed is processed based on the above-mentioned print data control information. The method of expanding the data to be printed on the page memory 9 is the same as writing the form information on the page memory 9 described in the operation (1). That is, the main processor 4 gives a control parameter to the sub-processor 5 for each character (or one pixel) and issues a microcommand so that the sub-processor 5 (eg, 2901 processor) develops dots on the page memory 9. This is done by executing at high speed. By executing the print command, the data is written in the page memory 9 by the above method, and all the data for one page is expanded in the page memory 9. When the data expansion for one page is completed, the main processor 4 executes the one-page modification information (stored in the form buffer of the memory 3) in the form modification information shown in FIG.
The form on the page memory 9 is modified. This completes the print image of the first page on the page memory 9.

The form modification information shown in FIG. 2 will be described here. This form modification information is information for changing the previous form to a different form for each copy, and has the following configuration. That is, The content includes correction information, mask information (which will be described in detail below), and the number of copies (a specified number of copies of the same copy is printed).

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the function of the mask information. Mask 1 saves the specified area in the state before expanding the data after expanding the form. Mask 2
Saves the mask area after the data is expanded, and restores the mask area saved in mask 1 to the mask area.
The mask 3 restores the contents saved by the mask 2 to the mask area. The save memory used here is the first
The memory 8 shown is used.

(3) Explaining the operation of FIG. 1 again, following the operation of (2), the printer interface control device 6 reads the data on the page memory 9 and starts the operation of sending the print data to a printer (not shown). In the case of specifying multiple copies, first the first copy is printed. The mechanism of the printer is activated to print, the contents of the page memory 9 are read, and this is sent to the printer as a video signal. The printer prints according to this video signal. When the printer sends back a print end signal and printing of the first copy is completed, printing of the second copy is then started. Here, the second copy modification information of the form information shown in FIG. The form is modified by the main processor 4 and the sub-processor 5 on the page memory 9. When the modification of the second copy is completed, the second copy can be printed, the second copy is printed in the same manner as the first copy, and the third and subsequent copies are printed in the same operation one after another. To be executed. It should be noted that since the number of copies is designated in each copy modification information, when this designation is made, the specified number of copies of the same copy is printed (printed), and then the next copy is printed.

(4) When the printing operation of the final copy is completed, it is necessary to clear the expanded portion of the data in the page memory 9 and return the form to the initial state in order to prepare for the next print data. Regarding the clearing of this data, when the sub processor 5 develops the data in the page memory 9 character by character, a data area table is created in the memory 8 in which the range in which the dots of this data are written is remembered. Then, the data portion of the page memory 9 is cleared according to this data area table. Next, in order to return the form to the initial state, the basic form restoration information together with the form modification information in the form information shown in FIG. 2 is used. The form repair information is for repairing the form to the state before data clearing when the form may overlap with the data and a part of the form can be erased by the data clearing. The basic form restoration information is information for returning the form of the last copy to the basic form. By executing these, the page memory 9 is in a state in which only the basic form is expanded. That is,
The page memory 9 is ready to receive the next data.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the form modification information (A).
Is a shaded area, (B) is a ruled line (C) is a character, the first column from the left side is before data clear, the center is after data clear,
The third column shows after repair. FIG. 5 shows an example of basic form restoration information. This example shows an example of rewriting a receipt into a delivery note.
One copy paper form, (b) two copy paper form, (c) three
The copy form, (d) shows the basic form after restoration = 1 copy form.

The description so far has been about the operation method of preparing the next page data after the printing operation of the final copy of all pages is completed, but the following method can also be used. In actuality, in order to speed up the continuous printing, when the printing operation of the first part of the paper starts, the main processor 4 performs the analysis development after receiving the data of the next page, and the sub processor 5 stores the memory in the form of parameters that can be immediately executed. Put the data in the expansion buffer of 3. When the printing of the final copy is started, the printer interface control device 6 sequentially reads the data from the head of the page memory 9 and sends the data to the printer to proceed with the printing. At this time, an empty block that has already been read is generated on the page memory 9, and the data of the next page can be expanded in this block. Therefore, the empty block is cleared of data, and the next page data to be written in the empty block is expanded on the page memory 9. The next page data includes data stored in the expansion buffer of the memory 3 and unexpanded data sent from the host system. When the printing of the last copy is completed, the above-mentioned form modification information, form restoration information, and first copy modification information are executed on the page memory 9, and the print image of the next page is completed on the page memory 9, then the next page is printed. The printing operation of starts. In the above description, the multi-copy processing has been described, but it is also possible to specify only one copy in the form information. In this case, it is considered that one copy is the last copy and the same operation is performed. Should be done.

By the way, since the data area table in the memory 8 is finite, when the data area table is full, the sub processor 5 reports this status to the main processor 4.
To notify. However, at this point, the main processor 4
Since it is impossible to clear the data based on the data area table, the page memory 9 is cleared after the data is read by the final copy print. Therefore, since the form disappears on the page memory 9, the contents of the form stored in the form buffer of the memory 3 are expanded on the page memory 9 from the beginning to prepare for printing the next page data. Here, when the number of forms is small, speeding up may be achieved by re-deploying the four on the page memory 9 rather than clearing the data based on the data area table. In order to cope with such a case, the host computer gives an instruction to the main processor 4 by a form load command, and the page memory 9 is uniformly cleared when printing each page without using the data clear table of the memory 8. , You can choose to redeploy the form for the next page.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart of multi-part paper control by the system shown in FIG. 1, and summarizes the operation of this embodiment described above. In step 101, the basic form is developed on the page memory 9 by the main processor 4 and the sub processor 5. In step 102, after the next page of data to be printed, which is to be printed, is received, it is similarly developed in the page memory 9. In step 103, the first page of paper is modified on the page memory 9. In step 104, the printer interface control device 6 reads the data on the page memory 9 and sends it to the printer to start printing one copy. In step 105, the main processor 4 receives the next page data from the host computer, analyzes and expands the next page data, and stores the data in the data expansion buffer of the memory 3. At step 106, printing of one copy (printing of one copy) is completed. Then, in step 107, the second copy paper modification is performed from the data of the second copy paper written in the page memory 9. In step 108, printing of two copies is started. Step 105 between step 108 and step 109
~ After repeating the operation of step 108 for only the required copies,
In step 109, the final copy is modified on the page memory 9. In step 110, printing of the last copy is started. Next, at step 111, while clearing the data of the empty block on the page memory 9, the parameters in the expansion buffer of the memory 3 are written to the empty block of the page memory 9, and the data received from the host computer is transferred to the expansion buffer of the memory 3. Or write to an empty block of page memory 9. In step 112, it is judged whether or not the data of the next page are gathered, and if they are gathered, the final copy print end (printing end) of step 113 is confirmed, and in step 114, the remaining data of the next page (developing buffer) Are all expanded on the page memory 9. Then step
The form is modified at 115, the form is restored at step 116, and the process proceeds to step 103. If it is determined in step 112 that the data of the next page is not complete, it is determined in step 117 whether or not there is data on the last page. If there is, the process returns to step 111. If not, the process proceeds to step 118. Then, the printing of the last page is finished and the whole operation is finished.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the form in the operation of the system shown in FIG. (1) shows the basic form, and by adding 1 part paper modification and data to form 1 part paper form of (2), the following (3), (4), (5) and (6) are 2 Copies, 3 copies,
Figures 4 and 5 show forms of 5 and 4 papers. 5 of this (6)
Basic form that clears data with the form of the paper
Return to (1). In the flow chart of this form, the shaded area is used for restoration, and the receipt receipt is used for restoration.
When going from copy to copy 2, the data in the unit price, amount of money, and total columns are masked.

According to this embodiment, when the main processor 4 and the sub-processor 5 develop the form information given from the host computer and the data to be printed in the form of a dot image on the page memory 9, the form and the data are overlaid. Thus, the host computer is not burdened, and characters and figures (characters and figures can be mixed) can be generated and printed at arbitrary positions without being restricted by rows and columns. In addition, by defining the form information as desired, you can specify any information format, character size,
Images and figures can be defined. In the multi-part copy control, if each copy modification information is defined by the form modification information, data can be automatically printed on a different form of each copy by one print data transfer. Further, if a mask is designated in each copy modification information, it has a function of not writing data at that portion, and a rich sentence creating function can be provided. If the number of copies is designated, a copy print can be made. Furthermore, the form can be restored even if the data is overlapped with the form by the form modification information and the form is erased by clearing the data.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the page printer control system of the present invention, a page memory capable of writing a character pattern, a graphic pattern, and image information in the form of a dot image is provided, and an overlay of forms and data is provided on this page memory. By doing so, there is an effect that the host computer is not burdened and that characters and figures can be generated and printed at arbitrary positions.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a printer control system to which the page printer control system of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a format of form information, and FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining a mask function. , FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of form modification information, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of basic form restoration information, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a multi-part paper sheet control operation in the system shown in FIG. The figure shows the flow of the form in this embodiment. 1 ... Host system interface controller, 2 ...
Control program memory, 3, 8 ... Memory, 4
...... Main processor, 5 ...... Sub processor, 6 ......
Printer interface controller, 7 ... Character generator, 9 ... Page memory, 10 ... Page memory bus

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A page printer control system for receiving form information and print data from a host system, expanding the dot information into a dot pattern and overlaying the form and data, and receiving the form information and print data from the host system. A main processor, a sub-processor connected to the main processor, a page memory in which the form information and print data are expanded into a dot image and stored by the sub-processor, and a character generator in which print pattern data is stored. The sub processor generates a dot image of the form content based on the form information from the main processor and writes the dot image in the page memory, and then the character generator based on print data from the main processor. Writing the print dot pattern read from the data in the page memory, the control method of the page printer and form information on the page memory and print data and outputs control print information overlaid.