JPH06222895A - Print format preparing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Read the print format of the form and set the area information automatically to reduce the work load on the operator.
Improves the efficiency of creating print formats. [Structure] Digital image data from an image scanner that has read the printing format printed on a form is displayed on the LCD as an image, and in this image display, horizontal search and line feed are repeated to sequentially detect horizontal ruled lines. Whether or not the blank area immediately above the detected horizontal ruled line is the printable area is sequentially determined, and when it is determined as the printable area, the printable area is indicated by the area cursor, and the standard is set for the printable area. The area information is calculated and displayed, and the area information is determined by pressing the + key. All area information sequentially determined by pressing the + key is stored in the floppy disk as a print format by pressing the SAVE key. Things.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a print format creating apparatus for reading a print format consisting of ruled lines or the like printed in advance on a form and creating the print format as data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a form creating apparatus that reads a print format printed on a form such as a slip on the market and creates the print format as data is a digital image by reading the print format of a target form with an image scanner. Based on this digital image data, the image of the form is displayed on the screen of the display device, and in this state the operator sets the print position while moving the area cursor by key operation, and prints at each print position. Area information such as data (character strings, numbers, etc.), types of print characters, number of digits, pitch, etc. was input.

When the work of inputting the area information is completed, the operator sets a form to be actually printed in the printing section of the apparatus and gives an instruction to start printing. As a result, the form set in the printing unit is printed according to the area information set by the input work.

[0004]

However, if the operator sets the print position and the area information while moving the area cursor by the key operation as described above, the setting work is troublesome, and However, if this is done individually for forms having a wide variety of print formats, there is a problem that the work amount of the operator becomes enormous, and the efficiency of forming forms is extremely poor.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the print format printed on a sheet such as a form can be automatically read and the print position and area information can be set, thus reducing the work load on the operator and printing. An object of the present invention is to provide a print format creation device that can improve the efficiency of format creation.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a paper reading means for outputting digital image data obtained by reading a print format preprinted on a paper such as a form, and digital image data from the paper reading means. Display means for displaying on a screen, and horizontal ruled line detecting means for sequentially detecting horizontal ruled lines in a print format by analyzing the digital image data displayed on the screen in a predetermined direction from a preset point,
A printable area determining means for determining whether or not the blank area immediately above the horizontal ruled line sequentially detected by the horizontal ruled line detecting means is a printable area; and when the printable area determining means determines the printable area , A display control means for designating a printable area on the digital image data screen of the display means, and at the time of designating the printable area by the display control means,
Area information setting means for setting area information such as print start position and number of digits for the printable area, and print format storage means for storing all area information sequentially set by the area information setting means as a print format. It is provided.

[0007]

In the present invention having such a configuration, the digital image data obtained by reading the print format preprinted on the paper such as the form is output by the paper reading means.

The output digital image data is first displayed on the screen by the display means, and by the horizontal ruled line detecting means.
A horizontal ruled line in the print format is sequentially detected by analyzing in a predetermined direction from a preset point.

When the horizontal ruled lines are sequentially detected by the horizontal ruled line detecting means, the printable area judging means sequentially judges whether or not the blank area immediately above the detected horizontal ruled lines is the printable area.

When the printable area is judged by this judgment, the display control means designates the printable area on the screen display of the digital image data by the display means, and when the printable area is designated, the printable area is designated. Area information is set by the area information setting means.

The print format storage means stores all area information sequentially set by the area information setting means as a print format.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to a form creating apparatus, and FIG. 1 is a perspective view of this form creating apparatus.

The main body of the form creation apparatus 1 is a printer 2 provided with an insertion slot 2a into which a form such as a slip is inserted, an area information automatic setting key, a + (plus) key, and a SAVE key (not shown). , Etc., various keys are formed, a keyboard 3 for inputting data related to setting of area information and print data to be printed on a form, and an LCD (liquid c) as a display means for displaying the print format and print data
2 and an FDD (floppy disk drive) device 5a that reads and writes various data such as a print format from an inserted floppy disk, and is connected to an image scanner described later. ing.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a main part of the form creating apparatus 1. Reference numeral 11 is a C constituting a control unit main body.
PU11 (central processing unit). This C
R in which program data for processing performed by the PU 11 is stored
An OM (read only memory) 12 and R in which various memory areas used when the CPU 11 performs processing are formed.
AM (random access memory) 13, dictionary ROM 14 for converting hiragana and romaji data input by the keyboard into kanji data, floppy disk 15
The FDD (floppy disk) controller 5 including the FDD device 5a and the FDD interface (not shown), and the keyboard interface 16 for inputting an output signal from the keyboard 3 are respectively connected to the CPU 11 via a system bus 17. Connected with.

CG (chara) in which a character font for creating image data is stored corresponding to the character code.
cter generator) ・ ROM 18 and character data from the C
V in which image data is drawn by the G / ROM 18
(Visual) RAM19, LC controlling the LCD4
D controller 20, image scanner 21 as paper reading means for reading the print format printed on the form
Input digital image data from SCSI (small
A computer systems interface 22 and a printer interface 23 for inputting output data from the printer 2 and supplying print data to the printer 2 are also connected to the CPU 11 via the system bus 17.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of the format creation process performed by the CPU 11.

First, in a standby state until the digital image data from the image scanner 21 is input via the SCSI 22, and when the digital image data is input from the image scanner 21, step 1 (ST1).
As the processing of (3), it is determined whether or not there is a key input from the keyboard 3.

If there is no key input from the keyboard 3,
The system waits until there is a key input, and if there is a key input, it is determined whether the key input is the area information automatic setting key, the + key, or the SAVE key.

If the area information automatic setting key is entered,
Area information automatic setting key processing, which will be described later, is performed, and the processing returns to step 1 described above.

If the + key is pressed, the set area information is stored in the print format area formed for writing the floppy disk of the RAM 13 (set data determination) (area information setting means), The process returns to the above-mentioned step 1 again.

Further, if any of the area information automatic setting keys, the + key and the SAVE key is input, and if any other key is input,
The setting data is changed to change the area information (area information setting means), and the process returns to step 1 again.

Further, if the SAVE key is pressed,
All area information stored in the print format area formed in the RAM 13 is written (stored) in the floppy disk 15 via the FD controller 5 as one created print format data (print format storage means). ).

Then, the format creating process is ended.

FIG. 4 shows the flow of the above-mentioned area information automatic setting key processing.

First, a horizontal ruled line in the print format is searched by analyzing the digital image data dot by dot (pixel by pixel in the digital image data) to the right from the position corresponding to the pointer (coordinate data) of the current area cursor. It is determined whether or not there is data.

If there is no horizontal ruled line data to the right of the position of the area cursor, it is judged whether or not line feed is possible. If line feed is possible, the pointer (coordinate data) of the area cursor is moved to the position after the line feed (next dot line). Is set to the pointer corresponding to the leftmost end) of the area information automatic setting key processing (horizontal ruled line detecting means). If line feed is not possible, that is, if the end of the read image data (upper rightmost end) is searched, it is determined that all the digital image data has been analyzed, and the area information automatic setting key process is ended. ing.

If there is horizontal ruled line data to the right of the position of the area cursor, the width of the blank space immediately above this horizontal ruled line is measured by searching the window corresponding to the size of the character, and this horizontal It is determined whether or not the blank space immediately above the ruled line is the printable area (printable area determination means).

If the printable area is not judged by this judgment, the processing returns to the first processing of this area information automatic setting key processing. If the printable area is determined, the pointer of the area cursor is set (updated) to the pointer corresponding to the lower left point of the printable area.

Next, standard area information is calculated from the measured width of the margin, that is, the size of the printable area, and the LCD is displayed.
On the display screen of the LCD 4 via the controller 20, an area cursor is displayed based on the pointer at the set search position (display control means), and the calculated standard area information is displayed (area information setting means).

Then, the area information automatic setting key process is ended.

In the present embodiment having such a configuration, the print format of a form such as a slip is the image scanner 2
1, the image is read as digital image data.

The read digital image data is displayed in the window A in the upper half of the screen 4a of the LCD 4 shown in FIG. In the upper half B of the window in the lower half of the screen 4a, the print position information, the character size data, and the number of program steps are displayed. In the lower section C, the print position information and the standard area information are displayed. The area cursor displayed at the position D indicates the data input start position and the data input direction.

Further, for example, the upper half B of the lower half window
A portion surrounded by a broken line, such as “# 010” in FIG. 3, indicates that the actual LCD 4 is displayed in black and white inversion.

In FIG. 5, the print position information is
The coordinates of the lower left point of the printable area are indicated by "006 + 00 001 + 00". The first half shows the position of 6 lines +0 dots in the relative dot line, and the second half shows the position of 1 column +0 dot in the relative dot column. There is.

The next data "H" is the data indicating the character size, which is 13.3 characters / inch. As for the character size, in addition to this H, the size of "P" is 10 characters / inch, the size of "E" is 12 characters / inch,
There are 15 characters of "M" / inch.

The next # 010 indicates the number of program steps, and indicates that the area information of the printable area at the 10th step is set. The next "000000" indicates the display window information, and the next "digit number 000" indicates the digit number information.

The next "left alignment" indicates whether the data input direction is left alignment or right alignment, and the left alignment in this case indicates that the data is input from the left side to the right side.

The next "standard" indicates standard or even division, and the next "standard size" indicates the magnification of characters. In addition to this standard size, there are vertical double width, horizontal double width, reduction, and the like. The last "character pitch 013 dots" indicates that the character pitch is 13 dots.

The area cursor displayed at the position D indicates one point of the digital image data for which the printable area is not set.
The numerical value of “January” indicates that the values are right-aligned, and the numerical data first input for the year and the month are set to the first place. Next, when numerical data is input, the previously input numerical data is moved to the tens place and the inputted numerical data is set to the ones place. That is, in the print area, a place where a number string is displayed from the right such as “21” indicates that the input direction is right alignment when input from the right side, and if it is from the left such as “12”. When the number string is displayed, it means that the input direction is from the left side to the left.

By the way, in the method of calculating the standard area information from the size of the printable area, first, the printable area is a portion where a plurality of digits are continuously input like a product name, or a grid like a unit price. Standard or even division is set depending on whether the part is divided into. In addition, items for which character data such as a product name is input are set as left alignment, and items for which numerical data such as an amount of money is input are set as right alignment.

The character size is set to the maximum character size within the smaller width (interval) of the grid in the case of even division, and is fixed to the standard character size of H in the standard case. The number of digits is the number of digits obtained by dividing the width of the printable area by the character pitch of the standard character size H in the case of standard, and the number of squares in the case of even division. The magnification of characters is fixed to the standard size, the character pitch is set to the horizontal dot pitch of the standard character size H in the case of standard, and is the width of the grid in the case of even division.

Here, when the operator presses the area information automatic setting key, the display is as shown in FIG.

That is, the search is performed from the position D shown in FIG. 5 to the right to detect the horizontal ruled line. However, no horizontal ruled line is detected in the dot line (006 + 00) at the position D, and the next dot line (006 + 01) is set as a line feed.
The pointer of the area cursor is set at the leftmost position of, and the search is performed from that position to the right. No horizontal ruled line is detected for this line either, and line feed and search to the right are repeated in the same manner, and 0 is found on the 007 + 02 dot line.
Horizontal ruled line with the 08 column position as the left end (The horizontal ruled line for entering the customer name is printed with "Sama" at the right end.)
Is detected.

Here, the width of the blank space immediately above the detected horizontal ruled line is measured, and it is determined that the printable area is based on the width of the blank space. Therefore, the pointer of the area cursor is
It is set to the pointer corresponding to the position E at the left end of this printable area, and the standard area information is calculated from the width of the margin and displayed as shown in FIG. The area shown by the broken line is the printable area, and in reality, this area is displayed in black and white. In addition,
This printable area is left-aligned and starts from 2 such as 23456 from the triangular mark of the area cursor, but actually the position of the triangular mark is 1 and 123 ... Is displayed, indicating that it is left-aligned.

However, when the operator wants to write this printable area by handwriting, it is not necessary to set the area information, so the operator presses the area information automatic setting key again. Then, it becomes as shown in FIG.

That is, as described above, the search to the right and the line feed are repeated from the position E as the starting point, and in the horizontal ruled line of the first stage of the product name in the table, the margin immediately above the horizontal ruled line is obtained. Is determined to be the printable area, the area cursor is displayed at position F, and the printable area is indicated.
The standard area information calculated from the size of the printable area is displayed.

Here, if there is no problem in the displayed standard area information, the operator presses the + key to confirm, and if he / she wants to change it, he / she inputs the change data with the keyboard 3 for the item to be changed. For example, from 20 digits to 1
When it is desired to change the number of digits to 5, the ordinary cursor may be moved to "the number of digits 020" and the number may be changed to "the number of digits 015" by a ten key (not shown) provided on the keyboard 3. On the contrary, when the number of digits is increased, the character size, the character pitch, etc. are automatically changed according to the changed number of digits. When the change operation is completed, the + key is pressed to confirm the changed area information.

In the same manner, the horizontal ruled line is detected by repeating the search to the right and line feed starting from the current position of the region cursor, and if the blank space immediately above the horizontal ruled line is determined to be the printable region, the region is determined. The printable area is designated by the cursor, and standard area information is calculated and displayed from the size of the printable area. In this way, the printable area is sequentially designated by the area cursor, and the standard area information or the changed standard area information is sequentially determined by the operation of the operator.

All the determined area information is stored in the floppy disk 15 as one print format data when the operator presses the SAVE key.
Is written and stored in.

Therefore, when printing on a form with this form creating apparatus, a desired format (the format corresponding to the form to be printed) is read from the floppy disk 15 and the keyboard is placed in the printable area of the digital image data displayed on the LCD 4 on the screen. Enter the print data from 3,
The form is printed by the printer 2.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the digital image data output from the image scanner 21 that has read the print format printed on the form such as a slip is used as LC
The screen is displayed on D4, and in the digital image data displayed on the screen, the search is performed to the right and the line feed is repeated starting from the current position of the area cursor, and the horizontal ruled lines in the print format are sequentially detected. Whether or not the blank area immediately above the horizontal ruled line is the printable area is determined sequentially. When it is determined that the printable area is available, the printable area is indicated with the area cursor, and the standard area information for that printable area is displayed. Area information is determined by pressing the + key, and all area information sequentially determined by pressing the + key is stored in the floppy disk 15 as a print format by pressing the SAVE key. As a result, the print position and area information of the print format can be automatically set.

Therefore, the operator does not need to move the area cursor to search for the printable area, and the standard area information is calculated and displayed, and the area information can be set only by checking or changing the standard area information. Therefore, the work load on the operator can be reduced, and the efficiency of creating the print format can be improved.

In this embodiment, the operator has to press the + key to confirm the area information for the printable area indicated on the screen display by the area cursor. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to omit the determination of the area information by pressing the + key and sequentially and automatically determine all the standard area information. In this case, for example, before the SAVE key is pressed, the area information (program step) to be changed may be called so that the changing operation can be performed.

[0054]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention,
It is possible to automatically read the print format printed on paper such as forms and set the print position and area information, thus reducing the work burden on the operator and improving the efficiency of creating the print format. It is possible to provide a print format creation device capable of performing the above.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a main part of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of a format creating process of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a flow of area information automatic setting key processing of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the LCD of the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen of the LCD of the same embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen of the LCD of the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 ... Keyboard, 4 ... LCD, 5a ... FDD device, 11
... CPU, 15 ... Floppy disk, 21 ... Image scanner.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A paper reading means for outputting digital image data obtained by reading a print format preprinted on a paper such as a form, and a display means for displaying digital image data from the paper reading means on a screen, Horizontal ruled line detecting means for sequentially detecting horizontal ruled lines in a print format by analyzing the digital image data displayed on the screen in a predetermined direction from a preset point, and directly above the horizontal ruled lines sequentially detected by the horizontal ruled line detecting means. Printable area determination means for determining whether or not the blank area is a printable area, and when the printable area determination means determines the printable area, the printable area is displayed on the digital image data screen of the display means. The display control means for designating the area and the print opening for the printable area when the printable area is designated by the display control means. Area information setting means for setting area information such as start position and number of digits, and print format storage means for storing all area information sequentially set by the area information setting means as a print format are provided. Printing format creation device.