JP2006154912A - Document display, print system, method and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve processing performance when display or compilation is performed. <P>SOLUTION: Data for display are prepared once as necessary from intermediate data for print, and preview or compilation processing is operated, based on the data for display. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for displaying, editing, and printing after document data such as PDF, PS, or SVG is submitted.

  Conventionally, if you want to display or edit a document after it has been submitted, you can preview or edit the document data for printing by reducing it for display as needed. In some cases, the document for printing was directly edited.

As another conventional example, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 can be cited.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-290624 JP 2003-263295 A

  However, in the case of the above-described conventional example, when displaying or editing from the intermediate data for printing every time display or editing is performed, there is a problem that the intermediate data for printing is large and performance is deteriorated. Since the resolution of the printing press will increase in the future, there is a risk that the performance of display and editing will deteriorate in the future. Therefore, in order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention creates display data once from printing intermediate data as needed, and performs preview and editing processing based on the display data to improve processing performance. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above object, a system according to claim 1 of the present invention is a system for displaying and printing a document. In the system for displaying and printing a document, means for converting the document into intermediate print data, and if necessary, display data from the previous intermediate print data. Conversion means, display means for displaying from the display data, and printing means for printing from the intermediate data for printing.

  In order to achieve the above object, a system according to claim 2 of the present invention is a system for displaying and printing a document. In the system for displaying and printing a document, a means for converting the document into print intermediate data, and if necessary, display data from the previous print intermediate data. Converting means, displaying means for displaying from the display data, editing means for editing the displayed contents, updating means for updating the contents of the intermediate data for printing based on the editing result, and printing means for printing from the intermediate data for printing It is characterized by that.

  In order to achieve the above object, a system according to claim 3 of the present invention is a system for displaying and printing a document, the step of converting the document into print intermediate data, and if necessary, display data from the previous print intermediate data. A display step of displaying from the display data, and a printing step of printing from the intermediate data for printing.

  In order to achieve the above object, a system according to claim 4 of the present invention is a system for displaying and printing a document, a step of converting the document into print intermediate data, and if necessary, display data from the previous print intermediate data. Conversion step, a display step for displaying from the display data, an editing step for editing the displayed content, an updating step for updating the content of the intermediate data for printing based on the editing result, and a printing step for printing from the intermediate data for printing It is characterized by that.

  In order to achieve the above object, a system according to claim 5 of the present invention is a system for displaying and printing a document. In the system for displaying and printing a document, a procedure for converting the document into print intermediate data, and if necessary, display data from the intermediate data for previous printing A display procedure for displaying from the display data, and a print procedure for printing from the intermediate printing data.

  In order to achieve the above object, a system according to claim 6 of the present invention is a system for displaying and printing a document, a procedure for converting the document into print intermediate data, and if necessary, display data from the intermediate data for the previous printing. Conversion procedure, a display procedure for displaying from the display data, an editing procedure for editing the displayed content, an update procedure for updating the content of the intermediate data for printing based on the editing result, and a printing procedure for printing from the intermediate data for printing It is characterized by that.

  As described above, processing data can be improved by creating display data from the intermediate print data as needed and performing preview and editing processing based on the display data.

(First embodiment)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a document printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. This system includes a plurality of personal computers (hereinafter referred to as client personal computers) X and Y and a single file server FS. One Web server WS, one print server PS, and at least one printer A are connected by a network N. A mobile terminal M such as a portable information terminal is directly connected to the printer through IrDA, RS-232C, Centronics, etc. without being connected to the network. Instead of the client personal computers X and Y, an information processing device such as a word processor, a workstation, or a portable information terminal can be connected. In addition, the client personal computers X and Y and the file server FS store font data groups, Web data, image data, and the like related to a plurality of types of fonts.

  In this system, the mobile terminal M or client PC X or Y issues a print request such as the location of the Web URL or PDF data to be printed to the printer, the number of copies, etc., and the printer issues a file request to the Web server. The Web server collects necessary document data and font data from the file server and transfers them to the print server. The print server expands the transferred data and prints it by sending it to the printer.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the client personal computers X and Y, the file server FS, the Web server WS, and the print server PS. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 101 denotes a CPU, that is, a central processing unit, which controls the entire apparatus, performs arithmetic processing, and the like. Reference numeral 102 denotes a ROM, that is, a read-only memory, which stores a system activation program, a basic I / O program, character pattern data (font data) for converting a character code into a bit pattern, and the like. Reference numeral 103 denotes a RAM, that is, a random access memory, which temporarily stores data used for calculation by the CPU 101, calculation results, character pattern data strings converted from character codes for display, graphic data, image data, and the like.

  Reference numeral 104 denotes a KBC, that is, a keyboard control unit, and reference numeral 105 denotes a key input data (character code or control code) from the KB, that is, the keyboard, and transmits it to the CPU 101. Reference numeral 106 denotes a CRTC, that is, a display control unit, which reads a character pattern data string stored in the RAM 103 and transfers it to the CRT 107. Reference numeral 107 denotes a CRT, that is, a display device, which receives a character pattern data string, graphic data, and image data from the CRTC 106 and displays them on the display screen.

  Reference numeral 108 denotes a DKC, that is, a disk control unit, which controls access to the external storage device 109. Reference numeral 109 denotes an external storage device such as an FD, that is, a flexible disk device, or an HD, that is, a hard disk device, or a CD-ROM. The HD stores character pattern data (font data) and character development processing programs that read font data and convert them into bitmap data, graphic development processing programs that process graphic data, image data processing programs that process image data, etc. is doing.

  The application program for performing the processing of FIG. 9 according to the present invention and related data are supplied from an external storage device such as a flexible disk device or a CD-ROM.

  Reference numeral 110 denotes an NTC, that is, a network control unit, which controls the operation of the NT, that is, the network device 111. A system bus 112 transfers data between the above-described components.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a memory map of the RAM 103 when performing the processing of FIG. 9 according to the present invention. The basic I / O program is read into the RAM 103 by the system activation program in the ROM 102. Also, by loading the application program and related data from the flexible disk device as the external storage device 109 or the CD-ROM to the RAM 103 from the hard disk device when the power is turned on once installed in the hard disk device. Can be executed. It is also possible to load the program directly from the flexible disk device or CD-ROM to the RAM 103 without installing it in the hard disk device. In the file server FS, a printer information table, which will be described later, is formed in the related data area.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an outline of the printer A. The printer A may be any type such as a laser beam printer, an ink jet printer, or a thermal transfer printer.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the printer A includes a CPU 211, ROM 212, RAM 213, system bus 214, printer controller (PRTC) 215, printer engine (PRT) 216, disk controller (DKC) 217, hard disk device (HD) 218, A network controller (NTC) 219 and a network device (NT) 220 are included. Note that DKC 217 and HD 218 may not exist depending on the type of printer.

  The CPU 211 is a central processing unit that controls the entire apparatus, and executes various processes necessary for printing in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 212 while using the RAM 213 as a work area or the like. The system bus 214 is a passage for exchanging data and control signals between the above-described components. The ROM 212 stores character pattern data (font data) and the like. The RAM 213 or the HD 218 downloads document data, image data, font data, or the like requested to the Web server WS from the Web server WS and stores it, or downloads output data expanded into an image from the print server PS. There is a case.

  The CPU 211 generates character pattern data and image data (bitmap data) from the document data, image data, or font data supplied from the Web server WS or print server PS according to a program in the ROM 212. The data is expanded in a print buffer in the printer controller 215. The printer controller 215 outputs a print control signal generated based on the bitmap data to the printer engine 216.

  The network controller 219 controls the operation of the network device (NT) 220 when transmitting / receiving data to / from the client personal computers X and Y, the file server FS, and the print server PS via the network N.

  Next, DLC (Display List Component, hereinafter referred to as DLC) defined as intermediate data for printing in the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  For FIG. 5, this is an example of the data flow when DLC is used. For example, PDF is input and DLC is generated after interpretation. You can edit the DLC or send it directly to the output device. In addition to this example, DLC may be used independently, and editing may not be performed. The method of using DLC is not limited to the example in FIG. At this time, in the rendering engine mounted on the output device or the like, the input data is data called a display list (hereinafter referred to as DL). The difference in data format between DL and DLC is that the basic structure is exactly the same. In terms of overlap, DLC has overlap and DL does not have overlap. In this example, as shown in FIG. 6, since the overlap occurs in the DLC in (a), the start point or the end point does not occur. However, the DL in (b) has no overlap at the point where the overlap occurs in the original data object, so a start point and an end point are generated. This is the only basic difference between DL and DLC. Therefore, when data is converted from DLC to DL, high-speed conversion is possible. From the above, the output from a DLC to a device that receives DL as input takes less time to output due to high-speed conversion to DL.

  Next, a rendering engine mounted on a device or the like will be described. General PDL, represented by PS and PDF, has data in object units. In other words, the rendering engine interprets the data once, renders each object, and develops a bitmap at the object location. When there is an overlap of objects, the bitmap is developed on top of the original bitmap image. The more overlap, the more waste is generated. On the other hand, in the case of DLC, first, it is converted to DL at high speed, and then DL is converted to an image into a bitmap. However, as described above, since DL does not overlap, high-speed rendering is possible. .

  Next, the data structure and the flow up to output will be described. As described above, the data structure of PDL such as PS and PDF holds data in units of objects. This has the advantage that the data is light, but has the major disadvantage that it takes time to output the data on the device. That is, as shown in FIG. 7a, when it is necessary to read these data for output or editing, they must be interpreted each time. It takes a very long time to read data, interpret the data, and output the data to each device. On the other hand, DLC, which is intermediate data for printing, located between PDL and output data is interpreted data, as shown in FIG. 7b. There is no need. When converting from DLC to DL, since the data structure is basically the same, the converter is passed through. However, since the basic structure is the same as described above, it does not take time like an interpreter. The data structure is basically vector data, but various other information can be held. For example, regarding fonts, it is possible to have information even in vector data, and it is also possible to have information as a bitmap. It is also possible to hold the font name and character code as additional information. Similarly, the graphic data can have information in vector data, bitmap, and other image formats. FIG. 8 is a simple example of a DLC data structure composed of short vectors as an example. The points indicated by circles are information such as the start point and end point of the vector, and have a structure subdivided into short vectors even if they are straight lines. This is merely an example, and the way of holding information is not limited to this. As described above, various information such as a bitmap can be held.

  As described above, the DLC basically holds information as vector data, so that various edits such as enlargement / reduction, rotation, font replacement, and color change are possible. Also, reading data is faster than DL. DLC also has advantages over PDL like PS and PDF. DLC is device-dependent data having a rendering engine that uses DL as input, but as described above, since the basic data structure is the same, conversion from DLC to DL is very fast. Therefore, unlike PDL such as PS and PDF, it does not take time to pass through an interpreter, so the output time is very fast. Although DLC is positioned as interpreted data, it can be edited and does not need to be interpreted again.

  From the above, DLC has a faster output speed than intermediate data such as PS and PDF, and it is not impossible to edit like intermediate data for printing, so data can be reused. The advantages such as

  Based on the above, the detailed flow of the present invention will be described next with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In step 9-1, the conversion process from the accepted data to the intermediate data for printing (DLC) is performed. One method of conversion is to open an application such as document creation software or distribution document browsing software, and convert the output to DLC using a driver. And if you know the document format such as PDF, PS or SVG, you can know the contents of the document directly from the application without going through the driver. It is also possible to convert to DLC. In this case, no application is required.

  In step 9-2, when the document is submitted, the print format and the like are set at the same time, so the information is also stored. The contents to be stored include finishing setting, Nup information, watermark designation, and the like.

  In step 9-3, a request for editing, displaying, or printing the received document is accepted.

  In step 9-4, if the request is an edit, the process proceeds to step 9-20. If the request is displayed, the process proceeds to step 9-5. If the request is a print, the process proceeds to step 9-13.

In steps 9-5 to 9-12, the request is a display.
In step 9-5, there is a display request, and the requested page range is stored.

  In step 9-6, the first page is set.

  In Step 9-7, it is checked whether or not intermediate data for display (display DLC) exists. Here, the display intermediate data will be briefly described. The intermediate data for printing (DLC) has been described with reference to FIGS. Here, as the intermediate data for display (DLC for display), the intermediate data for printing (DLC) is reduced to the display resolution, and if the intermediate data for printing is CMYK data, the color is converted to RGB data. And store. The basic difference is these two points. The difference as the intermediate data for printing is that the intermediate data for printing is created based on 600dpi, 1200dpi or 2400dpi, whereas the display DLC is based on 96dpi. Therefore, the data size is small. In addition, the color is saved as RGB for monitoring, so there is no need to perform color conversion. Therefore, the data size is small compared to the intermediate data for printing (DLC), and since it is stored in RGB, there is no need to perform color conversion for the monitor, so compared to displaying from the intermediate data for printing when displaying. Printing from the display DLC is superior in terms of performance. This display DLC is stored in association with the intermediate printing data in step 9-1 and the job information in step 9-2.

  And the check in step 9-7 is that there is a display request somewhere before, and there is a case where a display DLC has already been saved, so there is already a display DLC. If the display DLC does not need to be created again, the process proceeds to step 9-9. If the display DLC does not exist, the process proceeds to step 9-8.

  In step 9-8, conversion from the printing intermediate data (DLC) to the display intermediate data (display DLC) is performed. Since this content has been described in step 9-7, description thereof is omitted here.

  In step 9-9, display is performed on the screen using the display DLC. The display DLC has excellent display performance because data is created based on the display resolution and is based on RGB.

  In step 9-10, the display DLC is stored in association with the print intermediate data (DLC) and the job information. By doing so, it is possible to perform display processing based on this display DLC when the display is finished in another opportunity or in another environment after the processing is completed, and excellent performance in display processing can be obtained.

  In step 9-11, it is checked whether there are still pages to be displayed. If it still exists, the process proceeds to step 9-12. If all requested pages are displayed, the process returns to step 9-3 to wait for a new request.

  In step 9-12, since there is still a page to be displayed, the next page is set and the process returns to step 9-7.

  Next, steps 9-13 to 9-19 will be used to explain the case where the request is printing.

  In step 9-13, there is a request for printing, and the requested page range is stored.

  In step 9-14, the first page is set.

  In step 9-15, the target print intermediate data (DLC) and job information are read. Here, the display DLC has no relation to printing and is not read.

  In step 9-16, conversion from the printing intermediate data (DLC) to the display list (DL) is performed. Since DL has already been described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8, detailed description thereof will be omitted. At this time, processing such as enlargement / reduction is performed as necessary based on the job information.

  In step 9-17, print image data is created from the display list. The processing here is the final image data output from the printer, and may be performed in the output period of the printer or the like, or may be converted by the host PC and passed to the printer.

  In step 9-18, it is checked whether there are still pages to be printed. If it still exists, go to step 9-19. If all requested pages have been printed, go back to step 9-3 to wait for a new request.

  In step 9-19, since there is still a page to be printed, the next page is set and the process returns to step 9-15.

  Next, steps 9-20 to 9-29 will be used to explain the case where the request is an edit.

  In step 9-20, there is a request for editing, and the requested page range is stored.

  In step 9-21, the first page is set.

  In step 9-22, as in step 9-7, it is checked whether or not a display DLC that has already been created exists. If a display DLC that has already been created exists, the process proceeds to step 9-24. If a DLC has not yet been created, the process proceeds to step 9-23.

  In step 9-23, as in step 9-8, the conversion work from the printing intermediate data (DLC) to the display intermediate data (display DLC) is performed.

  In step 9-24, the editing operation is performed while displaying the screen based on the display DLC. The editing operation performed here is an operation for correcting an erroneous character such as replacement of character data. Then, editing is performed based on the display DLC, and if there is a correction, the display DLC before correction is not directly rewritten, but the corrected character placement position so that it can be understood later that correction has occurred. And the corrected character as well as the character information before correction are associated with each other and saved as edited data.

  In step 9-25, it is checked whether the editing work on the page is finished. If not finished, the editing operation is continued in step 9-24, and if finished, the process proceeds to step 9-26. Whether or not the editing operation has been completed can be recognized by pressing an end button or the like on the editing screen.

  In step 9-26, it is checked whether or not all editing operations have been completed. If there are still pages to be edited, the process proceeds to step 9-27. If all editing operations are completed, the process proceeds to step 9-28.

  In step 9-27, since there is still a page to be edited, the next page is set and the process returns to step 9-22.

  In step 9-28, a selection is made as to whether or not the contents edited by the user are stored. If not stored, the associated editing data is discarded and the process returns to step 9-3. If so, proceed to step 9-29.

  In step 9-29, the edited data is saved, so the edited data saved in step 9-24 is checked, and both the intermediate data for printing (DLC) and the display DLC are checked. On the other hand, the data is exchanged based on the contents of the edit data. In the intermediate data for printing (DLC) and the display DLC, the layout information does not change except for the difference in resolution, so the contents edited in step 9-24 by the display DLC and saved in the edited data along with the placement position are It can be directly reflected in the intermediate data for printing (DLC).

1 is a system configuration diagram of a document printing system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a personal computer and a server. It is a figure which shows the memory map on RAM in a personal computer and a server at the time of performing the process concerning this invention. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer. The figure which shows the flow of printing of a document. The figure which shows the difference between the intermediate data for printing of this invention, and a display list The figure which shows the basic printing processing flow of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the intermediate data for printing of this invention. The flowchart which shows the detailed flow of this invention.

Claims (6)

  In a system for displaying and printing a document, means for converting a document to intermediate printing data, means for converting intermediate intermediate printing data to display data if necessary, display means for displaying from display data, intermediate printing data A document display printing apparatus comprising a printing unit for printing from a document.   In a system for displaying and printing a document, a means for converting the document into intermediate printing data, a means for converting from the intermediate printing data to display data if necessary, a display means for displaying from the display data, and the displayed contents An apparatus for displaying and printing a document, comprising: an editing unit for editing; an updating unit for updating the contents of intermediate data for printing based on an editing result; and a printing unit for printing from the intermediate data for printing.   In a system for displaying and printing a document, the step of converting the document into intermediate printing data, the step of converting from the intermediate printing data to the display data as necessary, the displaying step of displaying from the display data, the intermediate printing data A document display printing method comprising: a printing step for printing from a document.   In a system for displaying and printing a document, the step of converting the document into print intermediate data, the step of converting from the intermediate data for previous printing to the display data as necessary, the display step of displaying from the display data, and the displayed contents A document display printing method comprising: an editing step for editing, an updating step for updating the contents of intermediate data for printing based on an editing result, and a printing step for printing from the intermediate data for printing.   In a system for displaying and printing a document, a procedure for converting a document into intermediate data for printing, a procedure for converting intermediate data for previous printing from display data as required, a display procedure for displaying from display data, and intermediate data for printing A storage medium comprising a printing procedure for printing from a storage medium.   In a system for displaying and printing documents, the procedure for converting documents to intermediate printing data, the procedure for converting intermediate data for previous printing from display data to display data as needed, the display procedure for displaying from display data, and the contents displayed A storage medium comprising an editing procedure for editing, an updating procedure for updating the contents of printing intermediate data based on the editing result, and a printing procedure for printing from printing intermediate data.

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