JP2001331166A - Character processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a character processor capable of performing the fast expanding processing of a character. SOLUTION: When the plotting request of a character is received in an input part 1, a control part 2 searches corresponding font data from a front cache part 6 and when the font data exist in the part 6, the part 2 uses the font data. When the font data does not exist in the part 6, the part 2 reads out the outline font data of the requested character from a font information management part 3 and, also, a division judging flag which indicates whether or not the outline font data are needed to be divided into plural graphics. After the curve vector is approximated with a straight vector in a straight vector generating part 4, when the flag indicates that the outline fount data are needed to be divided into plural figures, the font data are divided into plural graphics in a division processing part 5. Then, graphics are expanded to bit maps for every graphic in an expansion processing part 7 to be outputted from an output part 8. Since whether or not the outline font data are needed to be divided into graphics is judged by the division judging flag, the conventional division judging processing is eliminated, thus the fast expansion processing is possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character processing device for developing outline font data into a bit map.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a process for developing general outline font data into a bitmap. To develop the outline font data into a bitmap format, the outline font data of the requested character is first read from a secondary storage device or the like. The outline font data is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (A), it is a set of linear vectors and curved vectors indicating the outline of the font. FIG. 14 shows an example of the character “D”.

Next, matrix conversion is performed to convert the read outline font data as shown in FIG. 14A to a designated size as shown in FIG. 14B. At this time, rotation or the like may be performed. Further, as shown in FIG. 14 (C), the curve vector is approximated by a straight line, and after converting all to a straight line vector, a filling process is performed for each scan line to form a bit map as shown in FIG. 14 (D). expand.

[0004] In addition, when outline font data composed entirely of linear vectors, including the case where a curved vector is linearly approximated, is developed into a bitmap, conventionally, each side of a polygon composed of linear vectors and an output device are used. The coordinates of the intersection with each scan line in DDA (Digital
1 Differential Analyzer) or the like. Then, the calculated intersection coordinates are sorted by the X coordinate value for each scan line to determine the correspondence between the start point and the end point of the filling, and a line segment parallel to the scan line corresponding to the section is drawn on the memory. .

[0005] As described above, the process of developing outline font data into bitmaps includes calculation of intersections and sorting by DDA for each side. These processes are very heavy processes, and are a major factor in reducing the overall processing speed. Therefore, speeding up has been achieved by dedicated hardware.

However, it is good to draw a relatively simple convex polygon, but if there is no restriction on the complexity of the input figure, there is no limitation on the number of intersections, and it is constituted by hardware. It is very difficult. FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a drawing graphic. For example, in a simple convex polygon as shown in FIG.
It is a point, and intersection calculation and sorting can be easily performed by hardware. However, when a concave portion is included as shown in FIG. 15B or when an intersection of sides is included as shown in FIG. 15C, a plurality of pairs of start points and end points exist for each scan line. Will do. In these cases,
DDA in a situation where you do not know how many intersections occur
It is impossible to provide the same number of pieces of hardware as the number of intersections, and the number of intersections must be limited from the viewpoint of cost. Also, it is very difficult to configure a sort circuit that sorts many intersections whose number is unknown and finds a correspondence by hardware.

As an attempt to solve such a problem, there is a method of generating bitmap data by dividing into partial figures in which sorting does not occur. FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a drawing method using figure division. Polygon data composed of straight line vectors as shown in FIG.
As shown by the dotted line in (B), the image is divided into partial figures such as trapezoids (including rectangles and triangles) whose bases are parallel to the scan line, where sorting does not occur. One of the divided partial figures is shown in FIG. The bitmap data shown in FIG. 16D may be generated by performing bitmap development based on such a divided figure such as a trapezoid.

Further, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-144066
In the graphic processing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-264, the development processing unit has 2N DDA circuits and a sort circuit capable of sorting 2N data, and limits the number of drawing line segments in each scan line to N or less. It is divided into polygons and processed. Also, a method has been devised for accelerating the expansion processing by registering such data divided into a plurality of polygons in a cache.

However, when dividing into such a plurality of partial figures, it is necessary to determine whether or not the division is necessary. In this determination, it is necessary to check whether or not the number of edges exceeds 2N for all scan lines. Further, since the division determination processing is performed for all the requested graphics, the processing time is further increased.

In particular, when drawing a document, each character is composed of one or a plurality of figures, and it must be determined whether or not to divide these figures, which requires a great deal of processing time. . However, in practice, the figure is rarely divided, and in many cases, the processing time of the division determination processing is wasted.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a character processing apparatus capable of high-speed character expansion processing.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, in a character processing apparatus for developing outline font data into a bit map, outline font data and whether or not it is necessary to divide the outline font data into a plurality of polygons are determined. The division determination flag for determination is managed by font information management means. Then, when a bitmap is developed for the requested font, the division determination flag is referred to, and when it is necessary to divide the font, the figure is decomposed into a plurality of figures by the division processing means. As described above, whether or not division is necessary is previously stored as a division determination flag, so that conventionally required division determination processing can be omitted, and high-speed bitmap expansion processing can be performed.

When drawing a font, a font rotated by 90 degrees may be required. Since the vector intersecting with the scan line is different between the case where the rotation is not performed and the case where the rotation is performed by 90 degrees, for example, as a division determination flag, information indicating whether or not it is necessary to perform division for each of the case where the rotation is not performed and the case where the rotation is performed Should be kept. As a result, even when a font rotated by 90 degrees is requested, the division processing does not need to be performed, and high-speed bitmap development processing can be performed.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a character processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an input unit, 2 is a control unit, 3 is a font information management unit, 4 is a straight line vector generation unit, 5 is a division processing unit, 6 is a font cache unit, 7 is a development processing unit, and 8 is an output unit. is there. The input unit 1
Various character data, such as a font ID representing a font type, a character code, a character size, and a flag representing the presence or absence of rotation of a character, are received and sent to the control unit 2 by a user's instruction or an external input.

The control unit 2 controls the font I of the requested character.
Font cache 6 for D, character code, and character size
When the corresponding font data is registered, the registered font data is received. In the following description, it is assumed that all font data is outline font data represented by a straight line vector,
However, it is not limited to this. In this case, it is assumed that the font data also includes a division determination flag. The received font data is transferred to the division processing unit 5. The division processing unit 5 receives the outline font data divided into a plurality of figures as necessary, and causes the development processing unit 7 to perform bitmap development. When the corresponding font data is not registered in the font cache unit 6, first, the corresponding outline font data and the division determination flag are read from the font information management unit 3, and the straight line vector generation unit 4 performs linear approximation for the curved vector. After that, the information is registered in the cache unit 6. Next, the outline font data obtained by linearly approximating the curve vector by the straight line vector generation unit 4 is divided into a plurality of figures by the division processing unit 5 when the outline font data is divided according to the division determination flag. Generate data. Finally, the expansion processing unit 7 is caused to perform bitmap expansion. The result of the bitmap expansion is output to the output unit 8.

The font information management unit 3 holds outline font data, and receives a requested font ID.
After reading the outline font data corresponding to the character code and performing matrix conversion in accordance with the character size and the presence or absence of rotation, the font data is transferred to the control unit 2. Further, it holds a division judgment flag for judging whether or not it is necessary to divide the polygon into a plurality of polygons, reads the division judgment flag corresponding to the outline font data, and transfers it to the control unit 2 in the same manner.

When the outline font data read by the font information management unit 3 includes a curve vector, the straight line vector generation unit 4 performs a process of approximating the curve vector with a minute straight line vector. As a result, outline font data composed entirely of linear vectors is generated. Of course, the processing of the straight line vector generation unit 4 is not necessary for outline font data that is composed entirely of straight line vectors from the beginning.

When the division determination flag corresponding to the outline font data indicates that the outline font data needs to be divided, the division processing unit 5 performs the processing for each scan line. Generate outline font data divided into partial figures with limited drawing line segments.

The font cache unit 6 registers outline font data, which is composed entirely of linear vectors, and font data including a corresponding division determination flag. Next, when data of the same font ID, character code, and character size is requested, the corresponding font data is read from the font cache unit 6 and transferred to the control unit 2. Here, the outline font data to be registered is the outline font data before the division process in which the straight line vector generation unit 4 linearly approximates the curve vector, but of course, the division processing unit 5 divides the outline vector data into a plurality of figures as necessary. The outline font data after the processing may be registered. In this case, since the division processing has already been performed, the division determination flag is unnecessary.

The expansion processing section 7 performs bitmap expansion of the outline font data divided by the division processing section 5 as necessary, and transfers the outline font data to the control section 2.

The output unit 8 receives from the control unit 2 the data that has been bit-mapped by the expansion processing unit 7, and transfers the data to an output device such as a printer or a display device. Thereby, printing and display are performed.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the overall operation of the character processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In S41, various character data such as a font ID, a character code, a character size, and a flag indicating whether or not the character is rotated are acquired from the input unit 1 and sent to the control unit 2.

In S42, the control unit 2 transfers the font ID, character code, and character size of the requested character to the font cache unit 6, and checks whether or not the corresponding font data is registered. If the font data is registered in the font cache unit 6, the font data including the outline font data and the division determination flag is read from the font cache unit 6 in S46.
The process skips the step 45 and proceeds to S47. As described above, since the processing of S43 to S45 can be omitted for the fonts registered in the font cache unit 6, the entire processing can be speeded up.

If the font data corresponding to the font data is not registered in the font cache unit 6 in S42, the requested character (font I
D, character code, etc.) and the division determination flag are read, and matrix conversion is performed. In step S44, if the outline font data includes a curve vector, the straight line vector generation unit 4 linearly approximates the curve vector to generate outline font data including all the straight line vectors. In step S45, the outline font data, which is composed entirely of straight-line vectors, and the font data including information such as the font ID, character code, and character size, and the division determination flag are transferred to the font cache unit 6 and registered. The registered font data is read out and used in S46 when the same character is requested later.

In S47, it is checked whether or not the division determination flag indicates that the division is necessary. When the division determination flag indicates that the division is necessary, in S48, the division processing unit 5 sets the part of the outline font data, which is composed of all the linear vectors, in which the number of drawing line segments in each scan line is limited. Generate outline font data divided into figures.
When the division determination flag indicates that there is no need for division, the process of S48 is skipped and the process proceeds to S49.

In step S49, the development processing unit 7 performs bitmap development based on the outline font data obtained by dividing the graphic as necessary. Then, in S50, the data subjected to bitmap development by the development processing unit 7 is transferred to the output unit 8.

Such an operation is repeated by the number of input characters. As described above, in the character processing device of the present invention, when determining whether the division process is necessary,
Since the determination using the division determination flag is not performed as in the related art without actually performing the process of determining whether or not the division is necessary for each scan line, high-speed processing is possible.

Next, the details of the main part of an embodiment of the character processing apparatus of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the font information management unit 3. In the figure, 11 is an outline font data reading unit, 12 is an outline font data storage unit, 13 is a division determination flag reading unit, 14 is a division determination flag storage unit, and 15 is a matrix conversion unit.

Outline font data storage unit 12
Is registered with outline font data corresponding to each character. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the data structure of the outline font data in the outline font data storage unit 12. In the outline font data, as shown in FIG. 4A, a font ID indicating a font type is associated with a character code table called a map. Further, in a map provided for each font type, as shown in FIG. 4B, a character code and a pointer to outline font data constituting the character are held. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 4C, the outline font data
Each character is composed of the number of drawing commands, drawing commands corresponding to the number of drawing commands, required coordinate values, and the like.
Here, the number of drawing commands represents the number of drawing commands included in data for one character. The drawing command represents a command for moving the current point, drawing a straight line, drawing a curve, and the like. The relative coordinates of the movement destination are represented as coordinates. If a font ID and a character code are specified by such a data structure, for example, the address indicated by the pointer specified by these is referred to, the number of drawing instructions is extracted, and thereafter,
The desired outline font data can be obtained by extracting data such as the drawing commands corresponding to the drawing commands and the associated coordinate values.

The division determination flag storage unit 14 holds a division determination flag in association with each outline font data. As described above, the division determination flag is a flag for determining whether it is necessary to divide a character figure into a plurality of figures. For each outline font data, check in advance whether it is necessary to divide it,
It is held as a division determination flag in association with each outline font data. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a data structure in the division determination flag storage unit 14. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, a character code and a division determination flag can be stored in association with each other. Of course, it is expected that the division determination flag will be different depending on the font of the character, so that it may be provided for each font ID. Here, the division determination flag is set to 01 when division is necessary only when there is no rotation of the character, 10 when division is necessary only when the character is rotated 90 degrees, and division is necessary regardless of the rotation of the character. In this case, 11 is shown, and when there is no need for division, 00 is shown.

Specifically, the character "value" shown in FIG.
Then, five line segments intersect in the scan line indicated by the broken line. Here, it is assumed that the development processing unit 7 is provided with eight DDA circuits, and when the number of drawing line segments is limited to four (that is, the number of vectors is eight), the figure division is required because the limit is exceeded. is there. However, this character "value" is 9
When rotated by 0 degrees, the number of drawing line segments for each scan line is 3 at the maximum, and there is no need to divide a figure. Therefore, 01 is stored as the division determination flag for the character "value". On the other hand, the character "word" shown in FIG.
In this case, the number of drawing line segments for each scan line is 2 at the maximum, and there is no need to divide a figure. But,
When rotated by 90 degrees as shown in FIG. 5C, the number of drawing line segments for each scan line is 6 at the maximum, and the figure needs to be divided. Therefore, 10 is stored as the division determination flag corresponding to the character “word”. Further, for a character having a complicated shape such as “sai”, for example, a figure may need to be divided as it is or even if rotated by 90 degrees. Is stored. Further, 00 is stored as a division flag for a character such as the character "1" which does not need to be divided even if rotated as it is or rotated by 90 degrees.

Outline font data reading unit 11
Receives character data such as a font ID and a character code from the control unit 2 and reads outline font data corresponding to the font ID and the character code from the outline font data storage unit 12 together with instruction information such as character size and rotation. It is passed to the matrix conversion unit 15.
In addition, it passes the font ID and the character code to the division determination flag reading unit 13.

The division determination flag reading unit 13 receives the font ID passed from the outline font data reading unit 11
The corresponding division determination flag is read out from the division determination flag storage unit 14 based on the password and the character code, and is transferred to the control unit 2.

The matrix conversion unit 15 performs matrix conversion on the outline font data based on the instruction information passed from the outline font data reading unit 11 and transfers the data to the control unit 2.

In the font information management unit 3 having such a configuration, the outline font data reading unit 11 reads outline font data corresponding to the font ID and the character code passed from the control unit 2 from the outline font data storage unit 12. Then, the matrix conversion unit 15 performs matrix conversion according to the character size, the presence or absence of rotation, and the like, and then transfers it to the control unit 2. on the other hand,
The division determination flag reading unit 13 stores the division determination flag corresponding to the read outline font data in the division determination flag storage unit 14 according to the font ID and the character code passed from the outline font data reading unit 11.
And transfers it to the control unit 2 in the same manner.

Next, the straight line vector generator 4 will be described in detail. When the outline font data read by the font information management unit 3 includes a curve vector, the straight line vector generation unit 4 performs a process of approximating the curve vector with a minute straight line vector. At this time, for example, an error between the approximated straight line vector and the curved line vector is set to be equal to or less than a predetermined accuracy.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the operation of generating a straight line vector in the straight line vector generation section 4. For example, the curve vector includes four control points A to D as shown in FIG.
The Bezier curve represented by is used. In this case, the process of generating a straight line vector is performed, first, as shown in FIG. 6B, the middle points A ′ to D ′ between the control points and the line segments A′B ′, B′C ′
Are obtained, and the midpoint G of the line segment EF is obtained. Then, a distance d between the midpoint D 'of the line segment AD and the midpoint G is obtained. If this distance d is equal to or less than a predetermined value,
A curve is approximated by a straight line vector AD or straight line vectors AG and GD. If the distance d is larger than a predetermined value, the distance d is divided into a curve vector represented by the control point AA'EG and a curve vector represented by the control point GFC'D, and the same processing is repeated. The division is repeated until the distance d in the curve vector divided in this way becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, and when the distance d in all the divided curve vectors becomes equal to or less than a predetermined value, A straight line vector connecting the start point and the end point of the curve divided in order from the start point A is obtained. In this way, the curve vector can be approximated by the straight line vector.

By such a method, a curved vector can be approximated by one or a plurality of linear vectors. Such approximation of a curved vector by a straight line vector is performed for all the curved vectors in the outline font data. The generated straight line vector is transferred to the control unit 2.

Next, the division processing section 5 will be described in detail. When the division determination flag indicates that the division is necessary, the division processing unit 5 generates outline font data that is divided into partial figures in which the number of drawing line segments in each scan line is limited. The necessity of the graphic division can be determined by the division determination flag. However, as shown in FIG. In consideration of whether or not the data is rotated by 90 degrees, it is determined whether or not the division processing unit 5 performs the process of dividing the data into partial figures.

Since a line segment is obtained by painting the space between edges, when the number of line segments is i, the number of edges (straight line vectors) is 2i. The maximum number of edges can be determined based on, for example, the number of DDAs in the expansion processing unit 7 and the number of sortable linear vectors. When the maximum number of edges is 2N (the maximum number of drawing line segments is N),
The division processing unit 5 sets another 1 for the number of edges exceeding 2N.
Or a process of dividing the image into a plurality of figures.

The processing method for dividing the figure in the division processing section 5 is arbitrary.
The algorithm described in Japanese Patent No. 4066 will be used, and the outline will be described. FIG. 7 shows the division processing unit 5
5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of FIG. First S61
, Yc representing the scan line to be processed is set to the minimum value Ymin of the range where the edge exists.

Next, in S62, it is determined whether or not there is an edge starting from the scan line Yc to be processed. If not, the process moves to S66. If there is an edge starting from the scan line Yc to be processed,
In S63, a variable count indicating the number of edges is set to:
The number j of edges starting from the scan line Yc to be processed is added. Then, in S64, the value of the variable count is compared with the maximum number of edges 2N. If the value of the variable count exceeds 2N, in S65, a graphic dividing process is performed so that the number of edges becomes 2N or less.
If the value of the variable count is equal to or less than 2N, S6
The process proceeds to S66 without performing the division process in S5.

Next, in S66, it is determined whether or not there is an edge ending with the scan line Yc to be processed. If not, the process skips S67 and proceeds to S68. If there is an edge ending with the scan line Yc to be processed, in step S67, the variable count
Is subtracted from the number k of edges ending at the scan line Yc to be processed.

In S68, the scan line Yc to be processed is set to the maximum value Ymax of the range where the edge exists.
It is determined whether it is equal to or not. If they are equal, the process ends. If different, in S69, the value of the processing target scan line Yc is incremented by 1 to make the next scan line a processing target scan line, and the process returns to S62 to perform processing for a new processing target scan line.

In this manner, for each scan line from the minimum value Ymin to the maximum value Ymax in the range where the edge exists, the edge of the portion where the number of sides intersecting the scan line exceeds 2N is divided as another figure. I do. Further, division is repeated until the number of edges becomes 2N or less in all scan lines from the minimum value Ymin to the maximum value Ymax, and the outline font data after division is transferred to the control unit 2.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of the division processing in the division processing section 5. Here, N = 4. When the scan line Yc to be processed is sequentially advanced from the minimum value Ymin, the number of edges is 2 from the minimum value Ymin to Y1.
Therefore, it does not exceed 2N (= 8). When the processing target scan line Yc becomes Y1, two end edges occur, but ten new edges occur, exceeding 2N. Therefore, for example, the figure is divided into the figure shown in FIG. 8B and the figure shown in FIG. As a result, the number of edges in each figure becomes 2N or less in all scan lines. Therefore, the division is ended, and each outline font data is transferred to the control unit 2. Of course, the division example shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C is an example, and another partial figure may be divided.

Next, the font cache unit 6 will be described in detail. FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the font cache unit 6. In the figure, 21 is a font cache control unit, and 22 is a font data storage unit. The font data storage unit 22 stores outline font data including all linear vectors and font data including a corresponding division determination flag in association with character data such as a font ID, a character code, and a font size. The font cache control unit 21 registers the font data in the font data storage unit 22, searches and reads the registered font data, and deletes the font data when the font data storage unit 22 is full. For example, various controls for the font data storage unit 22 are performed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation when reading font data in the font cache unit 6. In S71, the font cache control unit 21 acquires character data such as a font ID, a character code, and a character size from the control unit 2. And S7
In step 2, it is checked whether the corresponding font data is registered in the font data storage unit 22. If the font data is registered, in S73, the start address where the corresponding font data is stored is substituted for the pointer Pt. Further, in S74, the value of the counter storing the number of cache hits corresponding to the font data is increased by one. The value of this counter is used when deleting font data from the font data storage unit 22.

On the other hand, if the font data corresponding to the received character data is not registered in the font data storage section 22, the pointer Pt is set to NU in S75.
Substitute LL.

At S76, S73 or S
The pointer Pt whose value has been set at 75 is transferred to the control unit 2. In the control unit 2, if the pointer Pt is NULL,
It is determined that the font data has not been registered in the font cache unit 6, and if the font data is not NULL, the font data can be appropriately read from the font data storage unit 22 based on the address stored in the pointer Pt. . In this example, an example in which a pointer to the font data is returned to the control unit 2 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the font data itself may be transferred to the control unit 2.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation when the font data is registered in the font cache unit 6. In step S81, the font cache control unit 21 sends character data such as a font ID, a character code, and a font size from the control unit 2, outline font data including all linear vectors, and
Obtain the corresponding division determination flag.

In S82, the data amount of the outline font data is checked, and it is checked whether or not there is sufficient memory space in the font data storage unit 22. If there is free space in the memory, the process of S83 is skipped and the process proceeds to S84. If there is not enough space in the font data storage unit 22, the font data is deleted from the font data storage unit 22 in S83. It is desirable to delete the font data from the ones with the lowest usage. For this purpose, it is preferable to delete the font data having a smaller value by referring to a counter that stores the number of cache hits. Such deletion of the font data is repeated until a sufficient free space for registering new font data can be secured.

If there is sufficient free space in the font data storage unit 22, or after securing sufficient free space, in S84, the font I obtained in S81 is obtained.
Using character data such as D, character code, and character size as keys, outline font data, a counter initialized to 0, and font data including a division determination flag are registered in the font data storage unit.

In this example, when the necessary free space in the font data storage unit 22 is exhausted, the method of deleting from the font data having a small number of cache hits is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this method. For example, the configuration of the present invention is changed such as a method of deleting from font data having a large data amount, a method of deleting from the first registered data, and a method of deleting from the oldest access time when the access time is retained. Various methods can be applied as long as they do not occur.

The font data to be registered in the font data storage section 22 is stored in the linear vector generation section 4 as necessary.
Not only the outline font data obtained after linear approximation of the curve vector but also the outline font data obtained by dividing into a plurality of figures by the division processing unit 5 as necessary. Can also.

Next, the expansion processing section 7 will be described. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the expansion processing unit 7.
In the figure, 31 is a DDA unit, 32 is a sorting unit, and 33 is a memory drawing unit. As described above, the expansion processing unit 7 performs the process of bitmap expansion based on the outline font data received from the control unit 2.

The DDA unit 31 finds an intersection between the scan line and the straight line vector. The 2D DDA units 31 are provided, and edges corresponding to N drawing line segments can be obtained in parallel. The sorting unit 32 sorts the 2N edges calculated by the DDA unit 31 based on the coordinate values. The memory drawing unit 33 obtains a pair of a start point and an end point to be filled from the result sorted by the sorting unit 32,
In the meantime, drawing is performed in a memory (not shown) with the designated drawing color.

Here, the DDA section 31 and the sort section 32
Has a configuration corresponding to 2N data. Therefore, the number of edges that can be expanded at one time in the expansion processing unit 7 is 2N. When an arbitrary character figure is drawn, the number of edges may exceed 2N. In such a case, the division processing unit 5 divides the figure into a plurality of figures. Therefore, each graphic is pre-processed so that the number of edges is 2N or less.
This can be handled by a unit 31 and a sorting unit 32 that sorts 2N pieces of data.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the expansion processing section 7. Here, as an example,
The algorithm described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-144066 is used, and only an outline will be described below. First, in S91, a process is started by setting a variable Yc representing a scan line to be processed to the minimum value Ymin of the Y coordinate of the existing range of the figure to be drawn.

In S92, using the DDA unit 31,
The coordinate value Xc of the X coordinate of the intersection between the processing target scan line Yc and each side (each straight line vector) is calculated. Next, in S93, the DDA unit 31 that has calculated the intersection outputs all the coordinate values Xc to the sorting unit 32, and the sorting unit 32 sorts the values in ascending order and outputs them to the memory drawing unit 33. . Then, in S94, the memory drawing unit 33 takes out the sorted coordinate values Xc two by two from the top and forms a pair, and draws and draws a horizontal line (scan line) between the paired coordinate values.

In S95, the scan line Yc to be processed is increased by one, and the next scan line is set as a process target. In S96, it is checked whether or not the value of the new scan line Yc to be processed is larger than the maximum Y-coordinate Ymax of the existing range of the figure to be drawn. If the value of the processing target scan line Yc is equal to or smaller than the Y coordinate maximum value Ymax, the process returns to S92, and the drawing processing is performed for a new processing target scan line. Such processing is sequentially repeated, and when it is detected in S96 that the value of the processing target scan line Yc has become larger than the Y coordinate maximum value Ymax, the processing ends.

In this way, the bitmap development processing for one figure can be performed. As mentioned above,
A character having more than 2N edges is divided into a plurality of figures by the division processing unit 5. In such a case, the bitmap development processing for one figure described above may be performed on each divided figure.

In one example of the above-described operation, the Y coordinate minimum value Ym
For each scan line from "in" to the Y coordinate maximum value Ymax, the coordinate value Xc of each edge is converted to the DDA unit 31 every time.
Is calculated and sorted. However, the order of edges is changed only when addition / deletion / intersection of a line segment to be drawn occurs, so that sorting is not required. For this reason, it is possible to divide a figure by a scan line where addition / deletion / intersection of a line segment to be drawn occurs, thereby making sorting unnecessary.

[0064]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, when a character is divided into a plurality of figures for bitmap expansion with limited hardware, it is necessary to perform the division processing. A division judgment flag for judging whether or not there is a flag is held in advance. Therefore, the division determination processing conventionally performed can be omitted, and high-speed expansion processing can be realized. Further, as a division determination flag,
By retaining information for determining whether or not division is necessary depending on whether or not the character is rotated, there is an effect that high-speed expansion processing can be realized even when the character needs to be rotated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a character processing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an overall operation of the character processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a font information management unit 3;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a data structure of outline font data in an outline font data storage unit 12;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a data structure in a division determination flag storage unit 14.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation of generating a straight line vector in the straight line vector generation unit 4.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the division processing unit 5;

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a specific example of the division processing in the division processing unit 5;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a font cache unit 6;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when reading font data in the font cache unit 6;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when registering font data in the font cache unit 6;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a development processing unit 7;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation of the expansion processing unit 7;

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a processing process when general outline font data is developed into a bitmap.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a drawing graphic.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a drawing technique based on graphic division.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... input part, 2 ... control part, 3 ... font information management part, 4
... Linear vector generation unit, 5 ... Division processing unit, 6 ... Font cache unit, 7 ... Expansion processing unit, 8 ... Output unit, 11 ... Outline font data reading unit, 12 ... Outline font data storage unit, 13 ... Division determination flag Reading unit, 1
4 ... division determination flag storage unit, 15 ... matrix conversion unit,
21: Font cache control unit, 22: Font data storage unit, 31: DDA unit, 32: Sort unit, 33: Memory drawing unit.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A character processing device for developing outline font data into a bitmap, wherein the outline font data and a division determination flag for determining whether or not the outline font data need to be divided into a plurality of polygons. Font information management means for managing the font; a division processing means for generating outline font data obtained by dividing the font graphic into a plurality of graphics when the division determination flag indicates that the font needs to be divided; A character processing apparatus, comprising: expansion processing means for bitmap expansion based on outline font data of a figure or a figure divided by the division processing means. 2. The font information management means holds information indicating whether or not a division process is necessary depending on whether or not a character is rotated as the division determination flag, and performs the division based on whether or not the requested font is rotated. The character processing device according to claim 1, wherein a determination flag is output. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a straight line vector generating means for converting a portion represented by a curve in the outline font data obtained from said font information managing means into outline font data obtained by linear approximation. The character processing device according to claim 1 or 2. 4. A font caching means for storing outline font data converted by said linear vector generating means and font data including said division determination flag, wherein said font cache means stores font data stored in said font caching means. 4. The character processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein outline font data and a division determination flag stored in the means are used. 5. A font cache means for storing font data including outline font data of a plurality of graphics divided by said division processing means, and fonts stored in said font cache means are stored in said font cache means. 5. The character processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stored outline font data is passed to the expansion processing unit.