Image forming apparatus and report printing program

Abstract

This invention provides an image forming apparatus and a report printing program that can reduce RAM usage. [Solution] The image forming apparatus performs a font expansion step (S54) in which font data is expanded into RAM (Random Access Memory) after the start of the report printing process, a report generation step (S55) in which a report is generated using the font data expanded into RAM by the font expansion step, a report printing step (S56) in which the report generated by the report generation step is printed, and a font deletion step (S57) in which the font data expanded into RAM by the font expansion step is deleted from RAM, wherein the font deletion step is performed after the report generation step.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for printing a report and a report printing program.

Background Art

[0002] As a conventional image forming apparatus, there is known an image forming apparatus that expands font data of a language selected by a user into a RAM (Random Access Memory) when the language is selected by the user (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the conventional image forming apparatus, since the font data is always expanded in the RAM, there is a problem that the amount of RAM used is large.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus and a report printing program capable of reducing the amount of RAM used.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The image forming apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that it performs a font expansion step of expanding font data into RAM (Random Access Memory) after the start of the process of printing a report, a report generation step of generating the report using the font data expanded into RAM by the font expansion step, a report printing step of printing the report generated by the report generation step, and a font deletion step of deleting the font data expanded into RAM by the font expansion step from RAM, wherein the font deletion step is performed after the report generation step.

[0007] With this configuration, the image forming apparatus of the present invention loads font data into RAM after the start of the report printing process, and after generating the report using this font data, it deletes the font data from RAM. As a result, the period during which the font data is loaded into RAM can be shortened, and consequently, the amount of RAM used can be reduced.

[0008] In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the font deletion step may be performed before the report printing step.

[0009] With this configuration, the image forming apparatus of the present invention generates a report using font data loaded in RAM, and then deletes the font data from RAM before printing the report. This further shortens the period during which the font data is loaded in RAM, and as a result, reduces RAM usage.

[0010] In the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the font data may be a TTF (TrueType Font) file.

[0011] This configuration allows the image forming apparatus of the present invention to improve convenience because the font data is in the form of a TTF file.

[0012] The present invention provides a report printing program that causes an image forming apparatus to perform the following steps after the start of the report printing process: a font expansion step of expanding font data into RAM (Random Access Memory); a report generation step of generating the report using the font data expanded into RAM by the font expansion step; a report printing step of printing the report generated by the report generation step; and a font deletion step of deleting the font data expanded into RAM by the font expansion step from RAM, wherein the font deletion step is performed after the report generation step.

[0013] With this configuration, the image forming apparatus executing the report printing program of the present invention loads font data into RAM after the start of the report printing process, and after generating the report using this font data, it deletes the font data from RAM. As a result, the period during which the font data is loaded into RAM can be shortened, and consequently, the amount of RAM used can be reduced. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] The image forming apparatus and report printing program of the present invention can reduce RAM usage. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a block diagram of an example of an image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the control unit. [Figure 3] Figure 1 shows a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus when setting the language to be used. [Figure 4] Figure 3 shows an example of the language settings screen that appears during the operation shown in Figure 3. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus shown in Figure 1 when printing a report. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of a report printing screen displayed in the operation shown in FIG. 5. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing a situation where font data stored in the ROM shown in FIG. 2 is expanded to the RAM. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of a report generated by the report printing unit shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of the RAM shown in FIG. 2 in a state where font data has been deleted. [Figure 10] It is a flowchart showing an example different from the example shown in FIG. 5 of the operation of the image forming apparatus when printing a report.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0017] First, the configuration of an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of an image forming apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

[0019] As shown in Figure 1, the image forming apparatus 10 is a computer comprising: an operation unit 11 which is an operation device such as buttons into which various operations are input; a display unit 12 which is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) which displays various information; a printer 13 which is a printing device which prints images onto a recording medium such as paper; a scanner 14 which is a reading device which reads images from an original document; a communication unit 15 which is a communication device which communicates with external devices via a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet, or directly by wired or wireless connection without going through a network; a fax communication unit 16 which is a fax device which communicates faxes with an external facsimile device (not shown) via a communication line such as a public telephone line; a storage unit 17 which is a non-volatile storage device such as a semiconductor memory or HDD (Hard Disk Drive) which stores various information; and a control unit 20 which controls the entire image forming apparatus 10.

[0020] The memory unit 17 can store a language setting program 17a for setting the language used in the image forming apparatus 10 (hereinafter referred to as the "language used"). The language setting program 17a may, for example, be installed in the image forming apparatus 10 during the manufacturing stage, or it may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 10 from an external storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, or it may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 10 from a network.

[0021] The storage unit 17 is capable of storing a report printing program 17b for printing a report showing at least one of the settings and status of the image forming apparatus 10. The report printing program 17b may, for example, be installed in the image forming apparatus 10 during the manufacturing stage, or it may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 10 from an external storage medium such as a USB memory, or it may be additionally installed in the image forming apparatus 10 from a network.

[0022] For example, the report may include a status page showing various statuses of the image forming apparatus 10, such as firmware information for the image forming apparatus 10, information on optional equipment installed in the image forming apparatus 10, network-related information for the image forming apparatus 10, RAM (Random Access Memory) information for the image forming apparatus 10 (described later), information on the number of pages printed by the image forming apparatus 10, and the remaining toner level in the printer 13; a settings information list showing the status of various settings in the image forming apparatus 10; an address book list showing the contents of the address book stored in the image forming apparatus 10; and a service status page showing various statuses of the image forming apparatus 10, which is more detailed than the normal status page for service personnel.

[0023] The memory unit 17 stores language information 17c indicating the language used. The language used, as indicated in the language information 17c, is used not only as the language that constitutes the various screens (hereinafter referred to as "operation screens") displayed on the display unit 12 for the user to operate the image forming apparatus 10, but also as the language that constitutes the various web pages (hereinafter referred to as "operation pages") provided by the image forming apparatus 10 for the user to operate the image forming apparatus 10 remotely, and as the language that constitutes reports.

[0024] Figure 2 is a block diagram of an example of the hardware configuration of the control unit 20.

[0025] As shown in Figure 2, the control unit 20 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22 that stores programs and various data, and RAM 23 which is used as a working area for the CPU 21.

[0026] The CPU 21 executes the program stored in the memory unit 17 or the ROM 22.

[0027] ROM22 stores English font data 22a, which includes the alphabet as characters. ROM22 also stores at least one font data for a language other than English. ROM22 stores font data for each language type. For example, in addition to the English font data 22a, ROM22 stores Japanese font data including hiragana, katakana, and kanji as characters, simplified Chinese font data including simplified characters, and traditional Chinese font data including traditional characters. The font data stored in ROM22 is a TTF (TrueType Font) file.

[0028] The control unit 20 shown in Figure 1 implements a language setting unit 20a that sets the language to be used by executing a language setting program 17a.

[0029] The control unit 20 implements a report printing unit 20b that prints reports by executing a report printing program 17b.

[0030] Next, the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 will be described.

[0031] First, we will explain the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when setting the language to be used.

[0032] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when setting the language to be used.

[0033] A user of the image forming apparatus 10 can instruct the image forming apparatus 10 to start the process of setting the language to be used via the operation unit 11. When the language setting unit 20a of the image forming apparatus 10 is instructed to start the process of setting the language to be used, it performs the operation shown in Figure 3.

[0034] As shown in Figure 3, the language setting unit 20a displays a screen for setting the language to be used (hereinafter referred to as the "language setting screen") 70 (see Figure 4) on the display unit 12 (S41).

[0035] Figure 4 shows an example of the language settings screen 70.

[0036] The language setting screen 70 shown in Figure 4 includes a list box 71 as a widget for specifying a language, a setting button 72 as a widget for setting the language specified in the list box 71 as the language to be used, and a cancel button 73 as a widget for canceling the language setting.

[0037] List box 71 displays English, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Only one language can be selected in list box 71, and one language is always selected. Figure 4 shows the state where Simplified Chinese is selected.

[0038] As shown in Figure 3, when the processing in S41 is completed, the language setting unit 20a determines whether or not the cancel button 73 was pressed (S42).

[0039] If the language setting unit 20a determines in S42 that the cancel button 73 has not been pressed, it determines whether or not the setting button 72 has been pressed (S43).

[0040] If the language setting unit 20a determines in S43 that the setting button 72 has not been pressed, it executes the process in S42.

[0041] If the language setting unit 20a determines in S43 that the setting button 72 has been pressed, it overwrites the language used in the language information 17c with the language specified in the list box 71 at the time the setting button 72 was pressed (S44).

[0042] When the language setting unit 20a determines in S42 that the cancel button 73 has been pressed, or when the process in S44 is completed, it terminates the display of the language setting screen 70 on the display unit 12 (S45) and ends the operation shown in Figure 3.

[0043] Next, we will describe the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when printing a report.

[0044] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when printing a report.

[0045] A user of the image forming apparatus 10 can instruct the image forming apparatus 10 to start the report printing process via the operation unit 11. When the report printing unit 20b of the image forming apparatus 10 is instructed to start the report printing process, it performs the operations shown in Figure 5.

[0046] As shown in Figure 5, the report printing unit 20b displays a screen for printing the report (hereinafter referred to as the "report printing screen") 80 (see Figure 6) on the display unit 12 (S51).

[0047] Figure 6 shows an example of the report printing screen 80.

[0048] The report printing screen 80 shown in Figure 6 includes a list box 81 as a widget for selecting a report, a print button 82 as a widget for printing the report selected in the list box 81, and a cancel button 83 as a widget for canceling the printing of the report.

[0049] List box 81 displays the status page, configuration information list, address book list, and service status. Only one report can be specified in list box 81, and one report is always selected. Figure 6 shows the state where the configuration information list is selected.

[0050] As shown in Figure 5, when the process in S51 is completed, the report printing unit 20b determines whether or not the cancel button 83 was pressed (S52).

[0051] If the report printing unit 20b determines in S52 that the cancel button 83 has not been pressed, it determines whether or not the print button 82 has been pressed (S53).

[0052] If the report printing unit 20b determines in S53 that the print button 82 has not been pressed, it executes the process in S52.

[0053] Figure 7 shows the process of loading the font data 22b stored in ROM 22 into RAM 23.

[0054] As shown in Figures 5 and 7, when the report printing unit 20b determines in S53 that the print button 82 has been pressed, it expands the font data 22b for the language used as indicated in the language information 17c from the font data stored in the ROM 22 into the RAM 23 as font data 23a (S54).

[0055] In Figure 7, the font data is depicted with detailed information omitted.

[0056] Figure 8 shows an example of a report 90 generated by the report printing unit 20b.

[0057] As shown in Figures 5 and 8, when the processing in S54 is completed, the report printing unit 20b generates the report 90 using the font data 23a that was loaded into RAM 23 in S54, based on the report that was specified in the list box 81 when the print button 82 was pressed (S55).

[0058] In Figure 8, Report 90 is a status page, but its detailed contents are omitted.

[0059] As shown in Figure 5, when the processing in S55 is completed, the report printing unit 20b prints the report 90 generated in S55 using the printer 13 (S56).

[0060] Figure 9 shows an example of RAM23 with font data deleted.

[0061] As shown in Figures 5 and 9, when the processing in S56 is completed, the report printing unit 20b deletes the font data 23a (see Figure 7) that was expanded into RAM 23 in S54 from RAM 23 (S57). In other words, the report printing unit 20b frees up the area 23b (see Figure 9) in RAM 23 that was used by the font data 23a (see Figure 7) that was expanded into RAM 23 in S54.

[0062] When the report printing unit 20b determines in S52 that the cancel button 83 has been pressed, or when the process in S57 is completed, it terminates the display of the report printing screen 80 on the display unit 12 (S59) and ends the operation shown in Figure 5.

[0063] The above describes how to generate a report according to the language used as indicated in the language information 17c. The methods for generating the operation screen and the operation page according to the language used as indicated in the language information 17c are omitted from this explanation, but they may be the same as the method for generating the report, or they may be different from the method for generating the report according to the language information 17c.

[0064] As described above, the image forming apparatus 10 expands the font data 22b into RAM 23 as font data 23a after the start of the report printing process (S54), generates the report 90 using this font data 23a (S55), and then deletes this font data 23a from RAM 23 (S57). As a result, the period during which the font data 23a is expanded in RAM 23 can be shortened, and consequently, the amount of RAM 23 used can be reduced.

[0065] The image forming apparatus 10 may perform the operation shown in Figure 10 instead of the operation shown in Figure 5.

[0066] Figure 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the image forming apparatus 10 when printing a report, which differs from the example shown in Figure 5.

[0067] The operation shown in Figure 5 involves printing the report 90 generated in S55 using the printer 13 (S56) before deleting the font data 23a (see Figure 7) that was expanded into RAM 23 in S54 (S57). However, the operation shown in Figure 7 differs from the operation shown in Figure 5 in that, after deleting the font data 23a that was expanded into RAM 23 in S54 (S57), the report 90 generated in S55 is printed using the printer 13 (S58).

[0068] When the image forming apparatus 10 performs the operation shown in Figure 10 instead of the operation shown in Figure 5, it generates a report 90 using the font data 23a expanded in RAM 23 (S55), and then deletes the font data 23a from RAM 23 (S57) before printing the report 90 (S58). Therefore, compared to a configuration in which the operation shown in Figure 5 is performed instead of the operation shown in Figure 10, the period during which the font data 23a is expanded in RAM 23 can be further shortened, and as a result, the amount of RAM 23 used can be reduced.

[0069] The image forming apparatus 10 can improve convenience because the font data 22b is a TTF file. Specifically, the image forming apparatus 10 only needs to load one TTF file of font data 22b into RAM 23, which simplifies the control of loading font data into RAM 23 compared to a configuration where the data for each character required for printing report 90 is loaded into RAM 23 one by one. Furthermore, since the image forming apparatus 10 loads font data 22b, which is a TTF file containing all commonly used characters, into RAM 23, it can reduce the need to add character information when the types of characters required for printing report 90 are newly added, compared to a configuration where the data for each character required for printing report 90 is loaded into RAM 23 one by one. Furthermore, since the image forming apparatus 10 loads font data 22b, which is a TTF file whose character size and thickness can be freely changed, into RAM 23, it is possible to easily change the size and thickness of characters used in report 90 compared to a configuration in which character data, which is necessary for printing report 90 and whose size and thickness are fixed, is loaded into RAM 23 one by one. [Explanation of symbols]

[0070] 10 Image forming apparatus 17b Report Printing Program 22a, 22b Font data 23 RAM 23a Font data 90 Reports

Claims

1. A font expansion step is performed after the report printing process begins, which expands the font data into RAM (Random Access Memory), A report generation step that generates the report using the font data expanded into the RAM by the font expansion step, A report printing step for printing the report generated by the report generation step, A font deletion step which deletes the font data that has been expanded into the RAM by the font expansion step from the RAM. Execute, The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the font deletion step is performed after the report generation step.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the font deletion step is performed before the report printing step.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the font data is a TTF (TrueType Font) file.

4. A font expansion step is performed after the report printing process begins, which expands the font data into RAM (Random Access Memory), A report generation step that generates the report using the font data expanded into the RAM by the font expansion step, A report printing step for printing the report generated by the report generation step, A font deletion step which deletes the font data that has been expanded into the RAM by the font expansion step from the RAM. The image forming apparatus is made to perform this action. A report printing program characterized in that the font deletion step is performed after the report generation step.

Images