JPS6061830A - Printer control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To store all print data in a single buffer and to simplify the software and hardware mechanism of a printer by handling print data, character data and respective command to be supplied to the printer by the common software and hardware mechanisms systematically as much as possible. CONSTITUTION:The printer is controlled according to sequential commands executed in reception order, character data, and print data consisting of immediate commands executed on reception. This printer control system is provided with the buffer 9 connected to a storage pointer 11 and an execution pointer 12. A +1 adder 14 is connected to the pointer 11, and a +1 adder 15 and -1 subtracter 16 are connected to the pointer 12 through a switch 17. When a sequential command or character data is detected, it is stored at a location indicated by the pointer 11, and when an immediate command is detected, data is stored at a location right before the position indicated by the pointer 12, thus simplifying the software and hardware mechanisms of the printer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a printer control system, and more particularly to a command processing control system that integrally handles and processes sequential commands and immediate commands given to a printer.

[Technology hell]

The print data given from the host controller to the printer includes data indicating characters to be printed, as well as command data for executing various special operations. There are two kinds of command data, called sequential commands and immediate commands, respectively.

Sequential commands are, for example, line feed (LF),
Reeds with something like a carriage return (CR), etc.
They are executed in sequence p according to their position in the data string sent to the printer.

Therefore, this command is made to wait in the printer until the processing of the previously sent print data is completed, so it can be handled in the same way as print data, and is temporarily stored in the buffer area of memory, such as print data. Ru.

On the other hand, an immediate command is, for example, a forced reset command ESCAPE, which is processed immediately when it is sent to the printer. This is executed immediately regardless of the order of data currently being processed by the printer, ie, even if unprocessed data remains.

Thus, sequential commands and immediate commands.

Since the processing methods up to execution in the printer are fundamentally different, it is necessary to prepare different software and hardware mechanisms in the printer for each, which is a cause of high costs.

[Prior art]

Diagram H1 shows the general configuration of a control section in a conventional printer. In the figure, l is PORT (1) and 2 is MPU.

3 is ROM, tl-1: RAM, 5 is PORT (2),
6 is a bus.

Reference numeral 7 indicates a control program 98, a control table, □9 a buffer in the form of a tube stack, and IQ a work area.

FIG. 2 is a detailed diagram of the buffer 9) shown in FIG. 1.

In the figure, 11 is a storage pointer indicating the storage position of the next new data, 12 is an execution pointer indicating the retrieval position of the next data to be executed, and the diagonally shaded area 13 represents unprocessed data.

Each pointer is updated by increasing its value by one each time it is used.

Figure 3 (→ is the control flow of data input processing, the figure (h
) is the control flow of execution processing. less than.

The operation will be explained with reference to the above figures.

Print data sent from the host controller to the printer is input to PORT (1). MPU is.

As shown in Figure 3 (→), read the print data of PORT (11) and check whether it is character data.

If it is character data, it is stored in the position indicated by the save pointer 11 of the buffer 9, and
Add 1 to the content of

On the other hand, if it is other than one-character data, it is further checked whether it is an immediate command. If it is not an immediate command, that is, if it is a sequential command, it is stored in a buffer as in the case of character data.

On the other hand, in the case of an immediate command, the content of the immediate command is analyzed, control data is created and output to FORT (2). The control data of PORT (2) is supplied to necessary drive elements of the printer mechanism section, and control is executed. For example, in the case of the ESCAPE command.

A printhead escape operation is performed.

After the execution of the immediate command is completed, or if there is no immediate command, the data at the position pointed to by the execution pointer 12 in the buffer 9 is sequentially read out and executed.

As shown in FIG. 3(h), data is extracted from the position pointed to by the execution pointer 12 in the buffer, and control data for instructing the printer mechanism is created. For example, in the case of character data, these are control data for selecting type on the print wheel, or control data for feeding to the top position of the next page in the form feed (FF) of sequential commands. . These control data are output to the printer mechanism section via PORT(2), and then the execution pointer 12 is incremented by one.

As described above, in the case of the conventional method, since immediate commands are processed without going through a buffer, it is necessary to prepare a completely different program from that for processing sequential commands and character commands.

[Object and structure of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to handle sequential commands, character data, and immediate commands in print data given to a printer in a unified manner using common software and hardware mechanisms to the extent possible. To provide a means for sequentially storing commands, character data, and immediate commands in a single buffer, and automatically taking out immediate commands from the buffer first.

The configuration of the present invention is such that, in a printer that operates according to print data consisting of sequential commands and character data that need to be executed in the order in which they are received, and immediate commands that need to be executed immediately upon reception, means for identifying immediate commands in print data;
A buffer means, a storage pointer means indicating a secondary data storage position, and an execution pointer means indicating a next execution data position.

When the immediate command identifying means identifies an immediate command in the print data, means for retracting the storage position indicated by the execution pointer means and storing the immediate command at the storage position indicated by the retracted execution pointer; is characterized in that printing is controlled by taking out a file from the storage position of the buffer means indicated by the execution pointer.

[Embodiments of the invention]

The details of the present invention will be explained below based on two examples.

First, the basic configuration of the present invention will be explained using FIG. 4. FIG. 4 functionally shows the buffer control mechanism of the present invention, in contrast to the conventional system shown in FIG. In the figure, 9 is a buffer, 11 is a save pointer,
12 is an execution pointer.

13 is unprocessed data, 14 and 15 are +1 adders, 1
6 is a 11 subtractor, and 17 is a switch.

Note that each of these elements may be realized on software.

In the conventional buffer shown in FIG. 2, the data storage position is determined at the position indicated by the storage pointer 11. Due to the structure of the stack-type buffer, as long as there is unprocessed data 13, the data is stored at the position indicated by the storage pointer 11. cannot be retrieved immediately by the execution pointer 12. Therefore, in the present invention, when an immediate command is detected, it is stored at the position one position before the position pointed to by the execution pointer 12, that is, at the data position where execution ended immediately before.

=1 subtractor 16 and switch 17 set execution pointer 1
Used to retract the position of 2 by one position upon detection of an immediate command.

On the other hand, if sequential commands or character data are detected, they are stored at the location indicated by the storage pointer 11, similar to the conventional method shown in FIG.

The data to be executed next is retrieved at the position indicated by the execution pointer 12. If an immediate command is stored first, the immediate command is always placed at the position pointed to by the execution pointer 12, so immediate processing becomes possible. On the other hand, in the case of the sequential command shown in Figure 1, the unprocessed data 13
After all have finished executing, that is, they are taken out in order.

executed.

FIGS. 5(α) and (A) are control flows in one embodiment of the present invention, which are improved versions of the conventional control flows shown in FIGS. 3(α) and (h). Figure 5 (→
Two of the steps marked with * have been changed according to the present invention, and the contents thereof are the same as those explained in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a control flow from storing a forced reset command (ESCA, PE) in a buffer to executing it as an example of immediate command processing. This immediate command is.

Using the format of ESC・SUB@I (I:1.2.3), it consists of 1 byte for each of the codes 'ESC'', -8UB'', and ``work'', making up a total of 3 bytes.

In order to control sequentially reading out each byte of the 3 bytes from PORT(1), the -ESC mode flag and gsc -SUB mode flag (not shown for convenience), first, when an ESC code is detected, the former Set the flag to ON, and then set the latter flag to ON when the SUB code is detected.

Confirm the ESC-SUB mode, and when the code is detected, convert the ESC-SUB into a 1-byte internal command and store it at the location where the execution pointer is subtracted by 1.

Normal character data is processed by the route ■→■→■, and E
SC code is ■→■→■, SUB code is ■→■→■→
■, and the I code is processed through the route ■→■→■→■.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the software and node mechanism of the printer can be simplified compared to the conventional system, and costs can be reduced.

In particular, the memory capacity required by printer software can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of the printer control section, Figure 2 is a diagram showing the buffer configuration, Figure 3 (α),
h) is a control flow diagram of print data processing using the conventional method;
Figure 4 is a basic configuration diagram of the present invention, Figure 5 (→, (b) is a control flow diagram of print data processing according to the method of the present invention, and Figure 6 is a control flow diagram of one embodiment of immediate command processing. In the figure, 9 is a buffer, 11 is a storage pointer, 12 is an execution pointer, 13 is unprocessed data, 14 and 15 are +1 adders, 16 is a -1 subtracter, and 17 represents a switch. Patent applicant: Fujitsu Agent Patent Attorney Co., Ltd. Hiroshi Fumi Hase (1 other person) Age: 1121 Age: 4 (0) (b”1

Claims (1)

[Claims] Identifying immediate commands in print data in a bleinter that operates according to print data consisting of sequential commands and character data that need to be executed in the order in which they are received, and immediate commands that need to be executed immediately upon reception. means, a buffer means for storing print data, a storage pointer means for indicating the storage position of the ninth received data, an execution pointer means for indicating the position of the data to be executed next, and an immediate command identification means for detecting the data in the print data. means for retracting the storage position indicated by the execution pointer means and storing the immediate command at the storage position indicated by the retracted execution pointer when the immediate command is identified; A printer control method characterized by controlling print out from the printer.