JPH0627921A - Pattern generating device and its control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the pattern generating device and its control method which efficiently perform pattern generation processing. CONSTITUTION:A PDL(Page description language) interpreter device 1 generates a corresponding pattern according to font data stored in one of hard disks 2-5 according to PDL data which are inputted. Then the generated pattern is cached on the hard disk out of which the font data for the pattern generation are read.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pattern generator and its control method, and more particularly to a pattern generator for generating a pattern of a designated type of character / symbol and its control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of DTP (Desktop Publishing), various types of characters have come to be utilized. However, the memory capacity tends to increase due to the existence of many types of characters, and since it has too much capacity to be stored and managed in a ROM, etc., font data is stored in an external storage device such as a hard disk in terms of cost. It is practical to do.

When generating a character pattern corresponding to a page description language, it is general to use an outline vector font instead of storing the character pattern as a dot pattern. According to this, it is possible to generate character patterns of various sizes with high quality and based on common data.

However, it is a fact that the process of generating the outline of a character pattern from outline data and filling the inside thereof is very complicated and takes time.

Therefore, when outline data is read from a hard disk or the like to generate a character pattern, it is cached, and when characters of the same character type and size are generated, pattern generation processing is not performed and cache is performed. It is indispensable to suppress the decrease in processing speed by utilizing the created pattern.

[0006]

If the RAM, which is an IC memory, can be processed at the highest speed as the cache location, the RAM is generally expensive, and the cost is too high for practical use. Therefore, it becomes practical to secure a cache area on the hard disk.

When the number of character types is increased, data (outline data) for generating the character may be supplied by a hard disk device connected to an external expansion interface. That is, a hard disk exists for each character type.

In the case of such a system, the cache location is still limited to the hard disk provided inside the device.

However, when the character patterns corresponding to all the character types are cached on one hard disk, there are the following drawbacks.

I. The free space on the hard disk connected to the external expansion interface cannot be used effectively.

Ii. Do not manage the cache for each character type,
Since it is managed collectively, it takes time to process.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems] and

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pattern generation apparatus and a control method thereof for efficiently performing pattern generation processing.

In order to solve this problem, the pattern generator of the present invention is characterized by having the following configuration. That is, in a pattern generation device that includes a plurality of external storage units that store at least one type of data for generating a font pattern in an independent state, each external storage unit is stored in the external storage unit. Reserve a cache area for the type of pattern
An area for managing all external storage means is secured in at least one storage means.

Further, the control method of the pattern generating apparatus of the present invention operates as follows. That is, in the control method of the pattern generating device, which is provided with a plurality of external storage means that stores at least one type of font pattern generation data in an independent state, the external storage means is provided for each external storage means. A cache area is secured for the types of patterns stored in, and an area for managing all external storage means is secured in at least one storage means.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system configuration including a PDL (Page Description Language) interpreter in the embodiment. In the figure, 1 is a PDL interpreter device in the embodiment. As the PDL interpreter device, for example, a laser beam printer can be used, but the present invention is not limited to this because the present invention is in the technique of caching character patterns.

In the figure, reference numeral 2 is a hard disk built in the PDL interpreter device 1, and 3 to 5 are provided.
Is a hard disk that connects to an external expansion interface. In the following, unless otherwise specified, the built-in hard disk 2 and the hard disk connected to the external expansion interface are collectively referred to as a hard disk (external storage device).

Each hard disk stores data for generating at least one font pattern, and data for generating different font patterns.

A CPU 7 controls data input / output with the PDL interpreter device 1 and the hard disks 3-5.
In addition, a ROM storing a program according to the flowchart of FIG. 3 described later is provided inside. Further, the CPU 7 has an R for use as a work area.
AM is also built in (not shown).

Reference numeral 8 is a RAM for expanding the generated character pattern, which is used for expanding a bit image for outputting to a printer engine (not shown).

For the sake of simplicity, the internal hard disk 2 stores outline data relating to the font A, and the external hard disks 3, 4,
It is assumed that outline data 5 corresponding to fonts B, C, and D are stored.

In the above configuration, the PDL data is sent from the computer 6, which is the PDL data generation source,
When it is related to the font B, the corresponding font data is read from the font B (stored in the area indicated by reference numeral 10) of the hard disk 3 and converted into a raster image (dot pattern) by the CPU 13. And is expanded in the RAM 14. Then, the raster image is stored in the cache 14 secured in the hard disk 3. And after this, the PDL
When the same code as the code (specified data with the same character code and the same character type and size) is sent, the CPU 7
Does not perform conversion to a raster image, and reads the raster image recorded in the font cache 14.

The same applies to other hard disks. That is, when the data for the font C is sent and the raster image data corresponding to the cache 15 in the hard disk 4 does not exist, a raster image is generated based on the data stored in the area 11. To do. The generated raster image is stored in the RAM 8 and the cache 15 in the hard disk 4. That is, each hard disk is provided with a font cache included in the hard disk. Note that reference numerals 13 and 16 also indicate cache, and 9 and 12 indicate font data, and the meaning thereof is as described above.

However, the font cache layout information (information indicating which font is stored in which hard disk) is in the PDL interpreter device (more specifically, the RAM in the CPU 7 or the hard disk 2).

Therefore, in this embodiment, the free space of each hard disk can be effectively used. Further, when a certain PDL code is sent, the probability that the raster image exists in the font cache is called the hit rate. In this embodiment, the hit rate is improved compared to the conventional configuration.

Before and after the description, each hard disk has information for identifying the type of font stored in itself, in other words, which hard disk the PDL interpreter device 1 has and what kind of font exists. Information is stored for understanding.

In order to realize the above processing, the PD of the embodiment
The CPU 7 in the L interpreter device 1 performs processing according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, when the power of the apparatus is turned on and PDL data is received from the computer 6 in step S1, it is determined in the next step S2 whether or not it is character code information. However, the character code information referred to here includes not only the character code but also the type of the character (information specifying the font) and size information.

If the information is other than the character code information (for example, a command for drawing a line, etc.), the process proceeds to step S4,
Perform the corresponding processing.

If the character code information is determined, the process advances to step S3 to determine which hard disk to select based on the character code information.

Then, in the next step S5, it is determined whether or not the raster image (character pattern) corresponding to the cache in the selected hard disk is stored.

When it is determined that the data is not stored in the cache, the process proceeds to step S6, the data for raster image generation is read from the selected hard disk, and the raster image of the designated size is generated.
Then, in the next step S7, the generated raster image is expanded in the RAM 8 and the raster image is stored in the cache of the selected hard disk.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S5 that the raster image of the target character is stored in the cache of the selected hard disk, the process proceeds to step S8, the raster image itself is read from the cache, and is stored in the RAM8. Perform the process of expanding.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 2 shows a system configuration diagram of another embodiment. In the figure, the same symbols as those in FIG. 1 of the above-mentioned embodiment (first embodiment) are attached.

The difference from FIG. 1 is that the hard disk 5 is dedicated to the cache. It should be noted that reference numerals 20 to 23 indicate respective font data. As shown in the figure, the hard disk 5 is provided with a cache corresponding to each font.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the font cache is provided not only on the built-in hard disk but also on the external expansion hard disk, and the allocation information of the font cache is provided, so that the free space of the hard disk is increased. Is effectively used to improve the cache hit rate and reduce the processing time.

Further, although the embodiments have been described by taking a physically separated hard disk as an example, a logically separated hard disk (so-called partition) may be used if the hard disk is not obsessed with effective utilization. I do not care.

The external storage device is not limited to the hard disk device, and may be a magneto-optical disk or the like.

Further, in the embodiment, the PDL interpreter 1
This is because the use of is not specified, but any device or circuit that generates a plurality of types of character patterns can be applied.

The present invention may be applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices or an apparatus composed of a single device. Further, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the case where it is achieved by supplying a program to a system or an apparatus.

[0041]

As described above, according to the pattern generating apparatus and the control method thereof of the present invention, the pattern generating process can be efficiently performed.

[0042]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a system configuration in a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation processing procedure in the first embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 PDL interpreter device 2 Internal hard disk 3-5 External hard disk 6 Computer 7 CPU 8 RAM

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A pattern generation device comprising a plurality of external storage means for storing at least one type of font pattern data in an independent state, wherein the external storage means is provided for each external storage means. A pattern generating apparatus, which secures a cache area for a pattern of a type stored in, and an area for managing all external storage means in at least one storage means. 2. A method of controlling a pattern generating apparatus, comprising a plurality of external storage means for storing data for generating at least one type of font pattern in an independent state, wherein the external storage means is provided for each external storage means. Pattern generation characterized by securing a cache area for a pattern of a type stored in an external storage means, and at least an area for managing all external storage means in at least one storage means Device control method.